Mutual Purposes
by sej1986
Summary: AU Jack and Chloe. Could be set at any time, let's pretend he wasn't taken by the Chinese. Someone is working against CTU, and trying to set Chloe up. Mild swearing. NOW COMPLETE!
1. Prologue

_**Mutual Purposes - Prologue**_

She pushed open the dark, wooden door, wincing as it squeaked on hinges that were evidently in need of being oiled. The air smelled dank, and she wrinkled her nose as she stepped into the dimly lit hallway, keeping her eyes peeled for the room number he had given her.

It was hardly their usual meeting place; both being accustomed to somewhat more refined settings. She had known it would come to this, she just hadn't envisaged it happening so soon, or under these circumstances.

He'd come to her for help. She figured he would, as that's all men like him were capable of doing. But she knew he would only have let it get this far if there was something in it for him; likewise, he knew he could rely on her assistance. It was a case of mutual purposes.

She squinted in the weak light at the slip of paper that had arrived in her mailbox only that morning, where a number had been hastily scrawled in the top left corner: 46. She'd reached the end of the corridor without success; cursing, she realised she would have to ascend the stairs to the next level.

Not daring to risk the elevator, she picked her way gingerly across the stained blue carpet, noting with distaste the cigarette butts ingrained into its fibres by years of careless feet. It was frayed at the edges, and almost non-existent in others, revealing intermittent patches of rotten floorboards. She couldn't imagine anyone ever having wanted to stay in a place as run down as this.

She passed no-one on the stairs. A fleeting thought crossed her mind that perhaps the building was derelict; it would be fitting for him to choose a low profile location where he had little chance of being found. She knew he had little concern for her safety, but if they found her she could easily work up a story, whereas his presence would be slightly more difficult to explain.

Soon she was approaching the designated meeting room. It was the fourth door in on the left hand side, a forlorn looking welcome mat discarded at its threshold. Self-consciously, she wiped her feet on it, anxious to rid herself of anything she may have stepped in on the way up.

She knocked three times, as she always had done. It had been their secret code, and she figured it would work just as well now. Neither of them could afford to take any risks.

"It's me," she hissed into the door, when she heard his footsteps hesitate on the other side. No doubt he was reaching for his gun, but she didn't allow that to worry her. She felt confident that he wouldn't turn it on her unless absolutely necessary. As the door slowly swung open, somewhat more demurely than the previous one, she found herself hoping desperately that it wouldn't come to that.

"Took your time," he muttered, ushering her inside before taking a brief sweep of the hallway. "You weren't followed?"

"Of course not."

She watched as he closed the door and replaced his weapon in its holster. Taking in the rundown surroundings, she suppressed a sigh. "Have you been living here long?"

"No. And it's only while this goes down. Then I'm gone. Don't worry about me. It's no longer your concern."

"I thought you'd found a job?" She'd seen the warning in his eyes but something compelled her to keep talking.

"I have. It's been my cover. Now, quit talking. I need to know- can you do what I asked you to do?"

She relented and cast her mind back to the phone call she had received two nights earlier. He hadn't bothered with the pleasantries; in his line of work there was never time for that. He'd told her he needed her help. Knowing what he did about her job, he'd figured that she would have access to things that he alone would have had difficulty obtaining. She'd told him she would meet him.

And now there they were.

"Well?" he pressed, when she didn't answer him immediately.

Audrey took a deep breath. Looking him square in the eye, she replied coldly, "Yes. I can do it."


	2. Chapter 1

_**Mutual Purposes- Chapter One**_

There had been a lull in activity at CTU Los Angeles for far too long. It was getting to be almost comfortable, arriving at work and not needing to worry about making it home alive at the end of the day. During this time, when there wasn't such a heightened risk to national security, the jobs that no-one ever seemed to have time to do got done, agents grateful for the chance to partake in a comparatively mundane task.

The day started as any other. Chloe sat at her desk, mindlessly processing files that she could have done in her sleep, listening to the hum of the machines around her and trying to block out the aimless chatter of her fellow agents. Beside her, a new guy that she couldn't even remember the name of despite having been introduced only hours before, blundered his way through some discs Tony had given him, every so often looking desperately towards Chloe for help. If she had been in a good mood, she may have offered some advice, but as it stood, that day was not shaping up to be one of her best.

Across from her, she pretended not to see Audrey draping herself (very unprofessionally, in Chloe's view) all over Jack. Okay, so maybe _draping _was a slight exaggeration. But surely there was no need to openly have her arm around his shoulders as she stood behind him, no doubt putting him off from his work. Sighing, Chloe cast her eyes back down towards her screen, jumping as the phone let out a shrill ring from its position at the edge of the desk.

"O'Brian," she muttered, snatching it up, not taking her eyes from the screen.

"It's Bill," came the tired voice of the regional Director. "I need to see you up in my office."

…

The atmosphere in Bill's office was almost electric. He was stood anxiously behind his paper-strewn desk, his eyes fixed on the door as he waited for his department heads to arrive.

Jack watched from the corner of the room, deciding as always not to sit down despite the chair that Bill had proffered him. He'd not asked what was wrong; he'd worked for the government for long enough to know when a threat was looming. Bill wouldn't have called them up there if it wasn't serious.

Tony arrived; Curtis was seconds behind him. The four men waited in silence until at last, the door creaked open a final time and Chloe stepped awkwardly into the room. Jack's eyes sought hers and he offered her a small smile.

"We have a situation," Bill began, not needing to ask if he had their full attention. He knew he did.

When no-one spoke up, he continued, "An ex-government agent is threatening to detonate three bombs in Los Angeles sometime today."

"Do we know who?" Curtis spoke up, voicing the thoughts of everyone in the room.

Bill sighed. "That's just it. No. All Division have sent me is what I've just told you."

"Well, what do they expect us to do about it with limited intel?" demanded Tony. He received what had become an almost trademark glare from Bill, who replied, "I don't need to remind you that we need to trace the source of this intel in order to try and pick up a lead." He spoke as though addressing a petulant child.

Silence fell across the small, glass-walled office.

"Right." Bill took another deep breath. "Chloe, I need you to work up a point of origin for this intel. I'll send you what Division sent me," he added, leaning over his desk and typing quickly into the computer.

Chloe gladly took her cue to leave the testosterone-fuelled office. "On it," she informed them, hastily grabbing the door. Jack watched as she walked quickly back down the stairs and made her way over to the comm. station. Not once did she glance back up at the office.

"Jack, I need you to have a team on stand by in case this turns into something. Curtis, I want you running point with me."

"I'm going to need Tony if this gets heavy," Jack informed Bill, knowing the older man was reluctant to grant Tony field duty after his return to the agency. He was also aware of a much deeper distaste running between the two men, but chose not to address it.

"Fine." Bill glanced away from them and towards his desk. "I think that's it for now. Keep me posted in real time."

Tony was out of the room before Jack could catch up with him. He spared a look towards Bill, who merely shook his head.

"This is a bit ridiculous," mused Curtis, as they walked together back down to the floor. "What exactly is the problem between them?"

Jack cast his eyes towards the floor, where Tony was deep in conversation with Michelle. Pulling Curtis to one side, he replied, "While Tony was in prison, he and Michelle divorced. Michelle started seeing Bill but it didn't work out."

Curtis nodded. "Makes sense now."

Before Jack could reply, he spotted Audrey approaching. Curtis took his leave, telling Jack he would be at his station if and when he needed him.

"Everything alright?" she asked, her hand on Jack's arm.

"Another threat's come in," he replied briefly, stepping away from her and walking quickly towards the men's locker room.

"You're going back out in the field?" There was no masking the disappointment in her voice.

"That is my job," Jack muttered. They paused outside the door. Seeing the obvious distress on Audrey's face, he softened his tone. "Look. It may not come to anything. Bill just wants me to have a team on standby."

"You and I both know Bill wouldn't keep you on standby unless it was bad." She was interrupted by the high-pitched ring of her cell phone. She snapped it open and barked, "Audrey Raines."

Jack waited while Audrey was no doubt filled in on the threat by the DOD in Washington. He watched as her face paled dramatically. Closing her eyes, she wrapped up the call with, "I don't care what Martin says. Keep me posted."

Replacing the phone in her pocket, she turned once more towards Jack.

"Three bombs, Jack."

He nodded. "I know."

"I'm going to speak to Bill. Can't he send someone else?"

"For God's sakes Audrey, he asked me specifically to head up the team."

"Dad will be able to change his mind. I'll just make a phone call-"

Jack snatched the phone out of her hand. "You will not make a phone call. I'm doing this, Audrey."

"What about me? What if I said I don't want you to go?"

"I'm going," he informed her, wrenching open the door to the locker room and striding inside without a backwards glance.

…

"Is everything okay?" Normally Chloe wouldn't spare Audrey the time of day if she could help it, but something about the other woman's demeanour compelled her to say something.

"Fine, Chloe. It's none of your business."

_How many times have I heard that? _"Just trying to show some concern," she shot back. Audrey wasn't listening, her attention now focussed on Bill who was trying and failing to make his way into the situation room, where Curtis was waiting.

"Bill, can I have a word?"

"Not now, Audrey. In case DOD haven't filled you in, there is a terrorist threat we have to deal with." He tried once again to make his way past her.

Audrey lowered her voice. Chloe could barely make out what she was saying; the only words she could discern were "my father," "not happy" and, "Jack." No doubt she was trying to pull rank on Bill. It wouldn't have been the first time she'd done it, Chloe reflected bitterly.

Bill muttered something in return, causing Audrey to finally step out of his way and allow him access to the situation room.

"My father will have something to say about this!" she shouted, before turning on her heel and marching towards the back hallways.

Chloe sighed heavily and continued her attack on the keyboard, fingers flying as she tried to make sense of the mess of data on the screen.

"I've got it!" she cried, when minutes later what looked like a name appeared amidst the strings of code.

Tony and Michelle ran over to the comm. unit and peered over Chloe's shoulders.

"There," she told them impatiently, when it seemed obvious that they could not decipher the information. "A name. Or so it looks like."

"Can you be sure?" asked Michelle, squinting her eyes in order to read it more clearly.

"Yes, I'm sure. Wait." Chloe picked up a pen and scribbled almost illegibly onto the barely used writing pad to the left of the keyboard.

"Mark Russell," Michelle murmured. Both women noticed Tony visibly tense.

"Someone needs to tell Jack."

"Tell me what?"

Tony looked up to see Jack approaching the comm. station, now wearing a government standard Kevlar and carrying an array of weapons. "We've got a name."

"Who?"

"Here." Chloe passed him the slip of paper, noting with alarm how his fingers lightly brushed against hers. Biting her lip, she added, "That's all I could find."

"It's great." Jack's eyes scanned the piece of paper blankly. "I don't know this name."

"Jack, something's not right," Tony spoke up. "I remember the guy but I don't know where from."

"Running a background check," Chloe informed them, before Jack could even ask.

"What's happening?"

"Chloe found a name," Michelle replied, when it was clear that no-one else was going to offer Audrey a response. She shot a questioning look in Jack's direction, but his eyes were focussed on Chloe. "A Mark Russell. Do you know of him?"

Audrey shook her head. "No. But I can get my contacts back in Washington to run a check."

"Good idea," Michelle nodded. She noticed how Audrey lingered for a moment beside Jack, before turning and heading back towards her station.

"We need an address, anything," Jack told Chloe, moving so that he was stood beside her. Chloe's heart skipped a beat at his proximity, and she silently berated herself for the inappropriate timing.

"I'm trying," she murmured.

"Let me know as soon as you have something. I'll be in my office."

"Will do."

…

Hours later, Chloe's eyes ached from staring at the screen for too long. Following a hunch of Tony's, she'd relayed the name Mark Russell on an inter-agency bulletin, but had so far drawn a blank.

"Maybe you were wrong and it wasn't a name," Audrey announced suddenly. Chloe looked up sharply.

"Excuse me?"

"Maybe it wasn't a name."

Chloe bit her tongue. "It was a name," she replied coldly.

"How can you be sure?"

Chloe was saved from responding by the ringing of her phone. "O'Brian."

"It's Tony. I've got some files I need you to look at. Might help."

"On my way." She hung up and flashed a winning smile in Audrey's direction. "Sorry, Tony needs me."

"Something's not right between Jack and Audrey."

Tony looked up from the file he was reading. "Sorry, honey?"

Michelle sighed and sat down in a chair next to him. Picking up a file, she repeated, "Jack and Audrey. Something's not right."

"What makes you say that?"

"Oh, I don't know. It might just be nothing. But they seem very distant. Bill told me she tried to pull rank on him earlier in order to stop Jack having to go out in the field."

"Why would she do that?" Tony muttered aloud, dropping the finished file to the floor and retrieving another.

"I'm not sure. Maybe she's worried about him going out in the field."

"He's a field agent."

"I know that. But Audrey… she's never seemed… happy, here, has she?"

He had to admit she was right. "No."

"And, to be honest, I don't think Chloe's helping," Michelle added in an undertone, one eye fixed on the petite analyst who was typing away only metres from them.

Tony looked up sharply. "What's Chloe done?"

"Audrey doesn't like her," she stated simply.

"There… I've got it…"

Both Tony and Michelle looked up as Chloe pushed her chair back from the desk and began walking purposefully towards the stairs leading up to Jack's office.

"Doesn't like her?"

Michelle shook her head. "Call it women's intuition, if you like."

Tony sighed tiredly. "Okay, honey."

…

"Jack? I've got someth… oh. Sorry."

"It's fine." Audrey smiled wickedly, her hand not leaving Jack's arm. "We were just…"

Chloe wasn't listening. She could feel a blush creeping across her cheeks and a lump forming in her throat.

"You were just leaving," Jack corrected her. He moved away quickly, putting a considerable distance between them. Audrey's hand hovered in mid-air for a few seconds before she lowered it gracefully to her side.

"I'm not happy about this, Jack," she warned, a dangerous note to her voice. Turning on her heel, she marched past Chloe and out of the office.

"Sorry, Jack… I… just wanted… never mind." Tears were threatening behind her eyes and she was damned if she was going to break down in front of him. "I found something else."

He motioned towards the couch but Chloe declined, not trusting herself to remain strong if she stayed in his presence for much longer. Clearing her throat, she told him, "Mark Russell used to work for CTU Los Angeles."


	3. Chapter 2

_**Mutual Purposes- Chapter Two**_

"I knew I'd heard that name before," Tony muttered, as he and Jack strode across the upper hallways and into Bill's office.

"I still don't remember." It was bothering Jack that something as important as this had slipped his notice; surely he would have _remembered _the guy?

"It was a good while back," Tony continued. "Actually, thinking back, it may well have been while you were temporarily based in Chicago." He paused. "Yes, it was. Four years ago."

Jack shook his head as Tony knocked on the door of Bill's office. "No. There's something else."

Bill looked up as the two men entered, gratefully putting down his pen and removing his glasses as he saw the urgency etched into their features.

"Chloe found a name. He's ex-CTU," Jack informed him, pacing the length of the room impatiently. Tony took up defensive stance; arms across his chest he leaned against the door, as though daring Bill to challenge them.

"What's his name?"

"Mark Russell."

Bill paled. "Ah."

"What?" demanded Tony.

"Well, you see-"

All three men looked round as the door creaked open once more. Audrey stepped inside without waiting to be invited. Tony shot a look in Jack's direction, and the warning in his eyes clearly told him that this was not the time or the place to be asking questions.

"Is there something the matter, Audrey?" Bill asked, his voice frosty following her earlier attempts to overrule his authority.

"I've just got off the phone with my contact back in D.C. The guy you're looking for is-"

"We know who he is, Chloe already worked it out," Jack told her.

Audrey faltered. "Oh."

"I would appreciate it in future if you could wait to be invited into my office," Bill informed her coolly.

"I saw you all up here and I thought-"

"Thought what? That you'd try and poke your nose in? I don't appreciate being told how to run this agency, Ms Raines."

She looked helplessly towards Jack. "Jack…"

"We're busy here, Audrey."

Taking a deep breath to regain her composure, Audrey smiled. "Fine. Sorry for interrupting."

As the sound of her heels receded from earshot, Bill sighed. "Jack, I'm sorry, but I don't appreciate how she assumes control. Either you talk to her or I will."

Jack merely nodded. Tony frowned at him, but said nothing.

"Anyway, as I was saying… this Mark Russell. Chloe's right; he did used to work here. He was head of field-ops while you were in Chicago, Jack."

"There's something else," Jack muttered, resuming his pacing. "I know I don't remember him, but there's something… maybe we worked together elsewhere?"

"Have Chloe cross check both your file and his," Bill told him. "If there is something, she'll find it. But… there is a problem. This guy is dead."

…

"I told you not to call me while I'm here," she hissed into the phone, ducking into a vacant holding room and closing the door discretely behind her so as not to attract attention.

"It's taking too long."

"Excuse me? You have to understand that these people aren't stupid."

She heard a laugh reverberate down the line, and she held the phone away from her ear in distaste. "No, Audrey, _you _have to understand that I'm not a patient man."

"How long are you giving me?"

"I've already given you too long." He sighed. "But, as I am in a generous mood, I will give you a bit longer. Shall we say another day? How close are they to locating me?"

"I'm not sure. I've pissed off Bill Buchanan so he's putting a wall up and blocking me from the investigation. I'm going to have to get Da- I mean, the Secretary of Defence, to go over his head."

Again a laugh. "Good old Daddy. What did you do to annoy Buchanan?"

"You're enjoying this too much."

"Okay. Maybe I am. But I've waited a long time, Audrey. Get me what I want."

Before Audrey could respond, the holding room door clicked open and Michelle stepped inside. Both women stared at each other a good few seconds, before Audrey remembered where she was and put an end to the phone call. "Call me with more news, Martin." She snapped the cell phone shut and smiled brightly at Michelle. "Everything okay, Michelle?"

Michelle frowned. "I saw the light on from under the door and I wanted to see who was in here, that's all. I didn't mean to intrude on a private call."

"Not a lot of places here where you _can _make a _private _call," Audrey agreed, placing emphasis on her words for the other woman's benefit.

She followed the dark haired woman back out into the hallway and waited while she switched the light off. "This room should be locked," muttered Michelle.

"It wasn't, otherwise I would never have stepped in there," Audrey told her, not missing a beat.

"I'm going to see who the last person was to have used that room." Michelle spoke aloud, not expecting an answer, so was shocked when Audrey responded.

"I think I saw Chloe in there a couple hours ago."

…

Chloe sat in Jack's office, reluctantly working from his office computer rather than her own station. He had requested that she ran the background check from his office, yet the minute she had entered he had disappeared down onto the main floor.

As she waited for the program to run its search, she cast her eyes around the small room. There were pictures of his daughter over every available surface, alongside a small picture of his wife which took pride of place in the centre of the desk. Chloe frowned. Surely, if he was with Audrey, he wouldn't have Teri's picture in such a prominent position?

She looked up guiltily as footsteps approached the office. With a sinking heart she recognised Michelle's slender frame through the glass panelling.

"Jack knows I'm in here," she offered quickly, watching as the brunette slipped into the room.

Michelle sighed. "I know. That's not why I'm here."

Chloe felt her defences kick in. "Then why?"

Michelle stood before the desk and faced Chloe directly. Chloe could tell that whatever she was about to say was making her feel very uncomfortable.

"Chloe, did you leave holding room 3 unlocked this afternoon?"

"Holding 3? I've not been in holding 3 all day. In fact, I don't think the room has been used at all. Why?"

Michelle trusted Chloe's blunt honesty and knew that she wasn't being lied to. She shook her head tiredly. "Nothing. It's just…" She paused, weighing up in her mind how much she ought to tell the analyst sat before her. "It's just, it was open and no-one seems to know why. I'm just asking everyone," she replied finally, turning to leave.

"Oh. Well, I hope you find out," Chloe offered.

"So do I," sighed Michelle.

…

"We're drawing blanks."

Bill had once again gathered the department heads, and, against his better judgement, Audrey, in his office and was running through the day's events.

"I seem to be hitting a wall with the search," Chloe spoke up. "It's like there's a virus in the system. Something blocking me."

"How could there be a virus? Surely you would be the first one to spot that."

Everyone looked up at the hostility in Audrey's tone.

"Seeing as you're such an expert, you would know that some viruses can go undetected for hours," spat Chloe.

"A virus? Maybe the system's just slow," Bill told Chloe, ignoring the DOD liaison completely.

"It's not slow. I checked it earlier, brought it up to date."

Bill ran a hand through his hair. "Well, we're getting nowhere. It's so frustrating!" he shouted, banging a fist against the wall in an uncharacteristic gesture.

"Every time I try and access Jack's file, it comes up with an authorisation code. I mean, it usually does, but this time the code isn't verified."

"Why don't you try cross checking my file?" Tony asked suddenly.

"It's worth doing," Bill agreed. A look of something like understanding passed between the two men. "And I'll look into this authorisation code. I expect Division have put a block on it for some reason."

The agents took their cue to leave, and filed out of the office, Audrey bringing up the rear. "Jack! Jack, wait." She hurried across the hallway and towards the stairs, where Jack was already approaching the bullpen below.

Both he and Tony looked up at the tone of her voice. Out of the corner of his eye, Jack saw Chloe hurry quickly over to her station and gather a few things. He watched as she then made her way back over to where he and Tony were stood, no doubt heading back up to the office.

"Keep me posted," he told her quietly, a gentle smile on his face.

"I will," she smiled back.

"Uh, excuse me?" Audrey pushed her way past Chloe and planted herself in front of Jack. Both Tony and Chloe took their leave and walked quickly away.

"I don't have time for this, Audrey."

"Make time. Dad's on his way in."

Jack felt his temper rising. "You called your father?"

She nodded smugly. "He wasn't happy to hear what Bill's been up to. DOD supersedes CTU," she added unnecessarily. "Where are you going?" she called as Jack turned away from her and marched back up the stairs.

Throwing open the door to his office, he strode inside and began pacing the already thread-bare carpet.

"Is… is everything okay?" Chloe asked hesitantly.

Jack froze, as though he had forgotten that she was there. "No, Chloe," he replied, pinching the bridge of his nose in a motion that was so familiar to Chloe. "I'm just tired. Tired of her," he added quietly.

Chloe shifted uncomfortably. "Oh."

He laughed bitterly. "Sorry, Chloe, you don't want to know that." Jack moved so that he was stood behind her. "It's just… sometimes… you…"

"I'm sorry, Jack," she interrupted. "That you and Audrey are having problems."

He sighed. "Me, too."

…

It was past nine, and the night shift were settling themselves at their stations, eager to relieve their now weary co-workers. The analyst brought in to cover for Chloe found themselves shunted to a station a little way behind the comm. unit, working on the files Chloe had abandoned earlier.

"Aren't you going home?"

Chloe frowned up at Curtis, as though he had asked her if the sky was green. "In a minute."

"It's almost nine-thirty."

"I know what the time is, Curtis. I learnt how to tell time when I was five."

Curtis rolled his eyes. "Okay, fine. I'll see you tomorrow. Make sure you're not still sitting at this desk, wearing the exact same clothes, when I come in at eight tomorrow morning."

"Yes, Mr Buchanan."

Smiling to himself, Curtis walked away from the decidedly over-worked analyst and towards the main doors out of the building. As he waited for the elevator to take him down to the parking lot, he overheard angry voices. Looking up, he saw Jack and Tony stood only feet away, in the middle of what was turning into a heated argument. Knowing better than to interfere, Curtis positioned himself out of sight, placing himself on standby in case it turned ugly.

"Stay out of it, Tony." Jack's voice was menacing. Curtis had heard the all too familiar tone many times before, and he found himself hoping that Tony would be smart enough to heed his friend's advice.

"Fine, I will. But Jack? Everyone has noticed. Something's wrong between the two of you and as a friend, I'm asking you if you're okay."

"I'm fine," Curtis heard Jack mutter, as Tony's footsteps faded along the tiled floor.

Deciding that his best option was to move before Jack saw him, Curtis caught the now-open elevator door with his foot and, stepping inside, hastily jammed at the buttons until the door slid shut.

…

"You've not come to nag at me too, have you?" Chloe accused Jack as he approached the comm. station. To her horror, he looked utterly exhausted.

"Nag you about what?" he asked absently. "Hey, are you finished up for the night?"

Rolling her eyes, Chloe stood up. The young techie behind her jumped up and within a few seconds had resumed Chloe's position in front of the computer. "Touch anything and I swear…" she muttered, glaring just enough to make the colour drain from the young girl's cheeks.

"Why do you want to know if I'm finished for the night, anyway? I've had Curtis nagging me, Mr Buchanan keeps phoning to see if I've gone yet, and now you. Is there some sort of conspiracy?" Chloe half-joked, as Jack followed her out of the bullpen.

"No. Nothing like that," Jack assured her.

They hesitated outside the women's locker room. "Well, uh, I'm just going in here to get my bag," Chloe told him, nodding.

"I'll wait here."

His reluctance to leave her tore Chloe in two. On the one hand, she wanted to be the one to comfort him, the one he turned to, but at the same time she did not want to hear all about the problems he and Audrey were having in their relationship.

Once inside the changing rooms, Chloe walked slowly over to her locker and tapped in the combination code, unable to get the lost, troubled look on Jack's face out of her mind. She hoped he wasn't going to try and ask her advice about Audrey; she was hardly an expert on relationship matters.

Absentmindedly, she pulled a brush through her dark hair, tugging at a particularly annoying knot. Looking in the mirror for a final check, she froze as she saw Jack stood awkwardly in the doorway.

"Sorry, I'm just coming," Chloe muttered hastily, shoving the brush back into her already over-filled bag. He was still looking at her, his crooked smile in place, his head resting against the door frame.

"You look fine," he told her quietly. Chloe mused that if any other man had said that, it would have sounded as though he was impatient at having to wait. But Jack wasn't any other man, and his tone of voice suggested that he actually meant it.

"Thanks." Chloe nodded again, to reassure herself. It was a habit she had developed over the years, to help build her self-confidence in uncomfortable situations. This, she decided, was definitely one of those times.

They walked together down the hall, and stood waiting for the elevator like Curtis had only minutes before them.

"I don't know why we bother having stairs, no-one uses them," Chloe said, breaking the silence.

Jack laughed. "No, I agree."

While Chloe didn't want to ask him what was wrong, she needed to talk about something. She said the first thing that came into her head.

"Tony's file was blocked, too. I tried running all sorts of codes but the authorisation code has been overridden." She bit her lip. "I don't like this, Jack. We need a lead and I can't get into the damn files!"

"Do you think it's internal?" Jack asked, following her into the elevator and leaning against the opposite wall so that he was facing her.

Chloe shook her head. "No. It's coming from the outside. I'm pretty sure. It looks like a virus but I was wrong; it isn't."

"Bill will call us if anything comes up." Jack didn't know if he was trying to convince Chloe or himself.

The elevator doors slid open and they found themselves in the now darkened parking lot.

"Where are you parked?" Jack asked.

"Next bay along," Chloe replied. "You?"

"Right here."

They stopped just before a dark mass of shadows, carefully disguising a powerful SUV. Jack took his keys from his pocket but made no move to unlock the car.

"Chloe, I didn't mean to shock you earlier, when I burst into my office like that."

"It's fine. It's your office."

"Me and Audrey… we're not doing so well. She's brought in her father to override Bill's authority."

"I'm… I'm sorry, Jack." Chloe shifted uncomfortably. "I don't know-"

"It's okay, I don't expect you to say anything." He took a few short steps towards her. Chloe felt her heart race as he reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "You understand, and that's all I could ask for." Again that crooked smile. "Thank you."

Chloe shrugged. "It's nothing. I'll… see you tomorrow." She started to walk away. Pausing, Chloe turned to see Jack stood exactly as she had left him. "It will be okay, Jack. Tomorrow, I mean. Mr Buchanan will find a way around Secretary Heller. We'll get this guy."

Jack nodded sadly, offering her a final smile before climbing into the vehicle and pulling out of his parking space. As Chloe made her way round to her own car, she couldn't help the stray tear that slid down her cheek.


	4. Chapter 3

_**Mutual Purposes- Chapter Three**_

Chloe arrived on the main floor of CTU the next day to find Bill stood at his usual haunt; the foot of the stairs. She soon realised that he was not alone. The short, authoritative figure of the Secretary of Defence wore an expression of undisguised triumph, a stark contrast to the anger now etched into every crease on Bill's face. Chloe could never remember the Secretary having such a pompous attitude about him, yet there he was, flanked on one side by a stone-faced Secret Service agent and on the other by his daughter, who was, if it were possible, looking even smugger than he.

The day shift had been called in early, and no-one had needed to ask why. As she took her seat at the comm. station, Chloe's eyes scanned the floor for the rest of the team. Tony and Michelle stood as one, a little to Heller's right. Michelle was frowning and Tony had adopted his usual defensive stance.

Curtis was sat at his station, his eyes flitting between the Secretary and Bill. His expression was one of incredulity, as though he could not quite believe that Audrey had stooped so low.

And Jack… where was Jack? Chloe panicked as she failed to discern him from the other agents on the floor, but was immediately calmed as she felt a presence behind her. He'd approached almost silently, and had no doubt seen her looking around for him. Chloe didn't need to turn her head to know who it was.

"Now that I have your full attention, I would like to say a few things."

Whatever noise there had been on the floor came to an abrupt halt. Even the computers ceased their relentless humming for a brief moment, allowing Heller full command of the bullpen.

"It has been brought to my attention that this latest investigation is being hindered by not one, but two people standing inside this room."

Chloe felt Jack tense behind her. "Son of a bitch," he muttered, so quietly that only Chloe could hear him.

Heller continued, "As Bill Buchanan can no longer be trusted to run this agency effectively, I am taking over command on a temporary basis. All channels, and all department heads, will go through me." He narrowed his eyes and took a breath. "And I mean, _all _department heads. Okay, that is all."

No-one moved.

"Well, come on, we've got a terrorist threat to deal with!"

Slowly, agents dispersed to their usual tasks. Chloe watched silently as Bill turned and made his way back up towards his office, emerging only minutes later with a briefcase.

"We can't just sit back and let this happen!"

Curtis had made his way over to the comm. unit and was looking almost pleadingly at Jack, as though expecting him to put a stop to the situation.

"We're not going to," Jack muttered, his gaze fixed on Audrey, who was still stood behind her father and looking everywhere but at the people she had betrayed. "Heller can't do this."

"DOD supersedes us," Curtis reminded him, only to receive a warning glare from the other man.

Jack waited a few more minutes before approaching Heller, pausing to take in the immediate effect of the takeover. He caught Tony's eye and nodded. Together they made their way across the floor, to where Audrey and her father were settling themselves at a vacant station.

"Bill's a resource. We need him here," Tony began, his tone suggesting that he wasn't in the mood to be argued with.

"Excuse me? And you are?" Heller peered up over his glasses, not bothering to rise to meet the two men.

"Tony Almeida."

A knowing look flitted across the Secretary's face. "Ah, Mr Almeida. I have heard about you. If you keep on speaking to me like this, I may have to have you removed."

Jack laid a hand on Tony's arm, sensing his friend's frustration but needing to put a stop to it before they lost what little control they had of the situation. "Mr Secretary." He began in a slightly more diplomatic tone than Tony. "Bill Buchanan knows this place inside out. Division came to him with the case. Let him stay and work it up." Jack's tone surprised even himself.

"Jack. You don't work for me any more." Heller paused. "But, out of respect to my daughter, I will not cause a scene. You have a fair point; therefore I will call Bill back in-"

"With all due respect, sir, I think it would be better if I called him."

"No need. He's still here," Audrey said smoothly, her own glasses perched precariously on the end of her nose. "I saw him returning to his office to collect something he'd apparently forgotten."

Not bothering to thank her, Jack strode across the floor and up the metal stair case. Tony tactfully remained behind, returning to the comm. station to check up on any progress Chloe may have made.

"Don't worry, Jack, I'm not going anywhere."

Jack lowered the hand he had raised, ready to knock on the open office door. Silently, he walked into the room and stood facing Bill.

"Co-ordinate through him, like he says." The older man's voice was tired. "But I want you, Curtis, Tony and Chloe to report on an hourly basis to me. I run this damn place, not that jumped up son of a bitch!"

Jack allowed himself a small smile.

"Work with Michelle also," he added needlessly. "I want my best team on this." Bill focussed his attention on his computer screen and began typing in his access codes. "I will be up here if you need me."

…

Tony looked up as his desk phone rang the familiar four tone ring, grateful for the interruption.

"Almeida." He spoke casually, well aware that Heller was prowling the floor.

"Tony, it's Chloe. I think I've got something."

Tony risked a glance over to the comm. station, and instantly regretted it. Audrey was hovering like a hawk behind their lead analyst, no doubt scrutinising her every move. She had to have seen what Chloe was doing, heard her hushed tones as she spoke into the phone. Before Tony could move, an icon appeared on his desktop.

"I've sent it to your station," she said briefly, before hanging up.

Tony sighed in relief. He should have known better than to think that Chloe would openly relay intel with Audrey stood at her back. Clicking on the small icon, Tony's eyes widened as he realised that Chloe had stumbled upon the very thing she had been struggling with the previous day.

"But this makes no sense," he muttered, scrolling down the screen to the information he knew would be there.

"What doesn't?" enquired Michelle, pausing behind Tony's station with a file in her arms.

"This is Jack's file," Tony informed her, slowly reading through the words on the screen before him. "Remember Chloe couldn't get onto it yesterday; she said it was blocked? Well, this is it."

"Maybe there wasn't a virus and the system was just slow, like Bill said," Michelle offered, but she was frowning. 

"No." Tony shook his head. "There was no virus, true. But this was blocked from the outside."

…

"Funny how this materialises at the same time Heller moves himself in."

"I couldn't agree more, Jack." Bill scanned quickly over the intel that Chloe had sent him. On the go-ahead from Tony, she had sent it to Jack and Curtis's systems also, thankful that at least the server and the computer network were things she still had control over. "This must have been blocked. But not by Division, like I thought. By Washington."

"Why would Washington want this blocked?" Jack asked aloud. "A lot of agents have gaps in their files, granted, but usually you can find your way in with an authorisation code and the right skills. Chloe couldn't get anywhere near this yesterday."

"Don't worry, I intend to look into it." Bill took his eyes away from the screen and looked up at Jack. "Division isn't too happy about this little charade."

"She only told me after she'd made the phone call," Jack told him, for once sitting down in the chair opposite Bill. "She just..." He paused, caught himself. "Sorry, Bill. My problem."

Bill sighed. "It's alright, Jack. We're getting somewhere. I just don't like what she's done, what she's done to you."

Anxious to change the subject, Jack gave a brief nod. "I'll sort it." Standing once more, he resumed his pacing. "So, this area of the file, it's about Chicago, isn't it?"

Bill nodded.

"I knew I recognised the name. After Tony mentioned Chicago it almost clicked. Now it has."

"Go on."

Jack took a deep breath before continuing. "Tony and I worked undercover with Russell, before I went to Chicago. Actually, the outcome of the mission is why I _went _to Chicago," he added bitterly. "It was a mission Chappelle authorised."

Realisation dawned on Bill's face. "Russell was injured, wasn't he. You and Tony escaped, and he claimed you never went back for him."

"Lies," Jack muttered. "Tony and I went back in, against Ryan's orders. Mark wasn't there, Bill. The building was ruined. There was no way anyone could have gotten in or out, but somehow he managed it.

"Tony and I got back here and Ryan wanted to know where Russell was. We told him we were too late, that we had gone back in but couldn't find him. Three hours later, Russell showed up, covered in blood and burns. He went straight to medical, and when he came round he said that neither me nor Tony had gone back for him. Ryan Chappelle and I never saw eye to eye, Bill. He believed Russell. Tony got a demotion and I was sent to Chicago."

"And Mark Russell was given your job as head of field ops, only to be killed in a mission six months later," Bill finished.

"Apparently not."

"No," Bill admitted. "Apparently not." He paused before adding, "They transferred you back pretty quickly, after he supposedly died."

"I pissed off the CTU Chicago Director," Jack explained, shrugging.

Bill smiled. "Why didn't I guess?"

Jack was about to respond when Chloe rushed into the office. She had walked slowly up the stairs, to avoid detection by either Heller or Audrey, and now she was frustrated by the time delay. "Sorry, but, we've got an address," she informed them breathlessly.

She turned to leave the office. Jack looked at Bill, who nodded. "Get your teams ready, Jack. And take Tony."

…

Chloe and Michelle walked quickly down the back corridors to the arms room, where Tony and Jack were kitting out. Michelle pushed open the door and rushed over to her husband, warning him to be careful. Chloe watched as Tony took her in his arms and vowed that he would be fine, and he would come back to her as soon as they were done.

Chloe stood awkwardly in the door way, not entirely sure why she had followed Michelle. Of course, she was part of the team. But then, so was Curtis, and he wasn't here…

"You alright, Clo?"

Chloe's head shot up as she heard Jack use her nickname, a nickname, she reflected, that only he seemed to use. He was stood a few feet away from her, all ready to go.

"Just… it's been a bad morning," she replied briefly. She didn't need to elaborate; Heller had been monitoring them all.

"There's something else." He didn't even ask; he always had been able to know just what she was feeling. Excepting, of course, the way she felt about him.

"Yes." Chloe frowned. "I… be careful," she whispered finally, echoing the words of Michelle who was now moving away from Tony and back towards the door.

"I will," he assured her, offering a tender smile. As he and Tony moved out of the room, Jack brushed his fingers against hers lightly. Confused, Chloe thought she may have imagined it, but as she looked questioningly up at him, he gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

…

Michelle and Chloe were greeted by Audrey on their return to the floor.

"Where have you been? And where is Jack?"

"They stepped out," Michelle informed her coolly, her earlier suspicions of the blonde having been confirmed by the arrival of Secretary Heller. Stepping round her, Michelle carried on walking towards the comm. unit.

"Excuse me? Stepped out? They? Who's they?" demanded Audrey.

"Jack and Tony."

Audrey rounded on Chloe. "You knew about this."

"We all did," Curtis spoke up. He was already working up a satellite link to the van Jack and Tony were taking, as well as the delta team they were to meet up with. "Your little games won't work here, Audrey."

"How _dare_ you!" She was still facing Chloe, apparently not even acknowledging Curtis's presence or involvement in the plan. "You overruled my authority, my father's authority… and all for what? Because you have some stupid little childish crush on my _boyfriend?_"

Chloe felt a wave of nausea wash over her. "What?"

"Come on, Audrey." Heller appeared at his daughter's side and placed a restraining hand on her arm. "This is hardly the right time. Bill Buchanan's got a lot to answer for."

"Bill Buchanan's getting results," Michelle countered.

"Why is it that DOD always gets kept out of the loop?" Audrey asked, her voice cold.

Her question went unanswered. Chloe walked mutely over to her station and picked up her headset, Audrey's words echoing in her head.

…

Jack pulled the van into the small makeshift parking lot in front of an equally makeshift building and looked at Tony in disbelief. "This is it?"

"It's what Chloe found," Tony replied, looking just as unconvinced. "Delta team, do you copy me?"

A crackle on the radio and a muffled voice signalled the arrival of the back up team in the car behind them. Tony watched as the larger vehicle backed up and disappeared from view.

It was the middle of the day, yet this particular area of town was deserted and looked as though it had been for years. Jack opened the door of the car and stepped out, motioning for Tony to follow. The dry grass crunched beneath their heavy feet as they made their way towards what used to be a family home.

"This place is deserted, Jack," Tony muttered. "I've got a bad feeling about this. What if the intel was wrong? It wouldn't surprise me, not after today."

Jack didn't answer him. They reached the remnants of a front door, which Jack kicked quietly open with his foot. The silence echoed around them and ricocheted off the bare concrete walls. A quick glance told them there were only two floors.

"You take down here, I'm going upstairs."

Tony opened his mouth to disagree, but Jack was already gone.

…

"Confirming satellite image… now," Chloe said, tapping furiously at the keyboard. "We should soon be able… there they are." Her heart leapt into her throat as she saw that the two men had separated.

"What's that?" Michelle asked, her voice barely above a whisper as she pointed a shaking finger towards a dark mass on the screen.

Chloe spoke quickly into her headset. "Jack, Tony, this is CTU. You have company. We're sending the back up teams in." Switching channels, she barked orders for the delta team to move in, all the while trying to keep the panic from surfacing in her voice. "Jack, Tony, do you copy?"

"Why aren't they answering?" Curtis muttered. He shouted into his own headset but received the same response.

Michelle picked up the phone and dialled Bill's office. "We have a problem," was all she managed to say, before a startled gasp from Chloe cut her off.


	5. Chapter 4

_**Mutual Purposes- Chapter Four**_

"What has happened?" Bill shouted, taking the stairs two at a time from his office. The speed at which he walked, coupled with the agitation flitting across his face, was enough to bring the entire floor to a standstill. "Chloe, talk to me!" he demanded, jogging the last few steps to the comm. unit.

Chloe refreshed the image on her screen, her heart in her mouth as she hoped against hope that her eyes had deceived her. She opened her mouth to respond to Bill, but stopped short as the angry voice of Secretary Heller rang out from the other side of the bullpen.

"What is going on here, Bill? I thought I specifically told your people to work through me." He was on his feet and making his way over to the team. Audrey click-clacked alongside him, her glasses dangerously close to falling off the end of her nose.

"I haven't got time for this now," Bill warned, leaning over Chloe and grabbing up a spare headset. "Talk to me, Jack. Tony? Damnit!"

"Then I suggest you _make _time." Heller had reached the comm. station and taken a hold of Bill's wrist as he went to refresh the screen once more. Bill's eyes flashed dangerously.

"CTU? CTU, do you copy?"

Curtis was the first to break the stunned silence that had fallen across their small team. Averting his glance from the rest of the group, he shouted into his headset, "This is CTU. Who is this? What's going on?"

A short silence followed, punctuated only by the crackling of the headsets as whoever was on the other end tried desperately to make contact. Heller released Bill's wrist, but the two men kept their eyes firmly locked on each other.

Curtis tried again. "We think there has been an explosion. Can you confirm this?"

"CTU, this is Bauer. There has been an explosion, I repeat, there has been an explosion." There was a pause as Jack took a breath. "Half of the delta team has been taken out."

Michelle found her voice. "Jack, where's Tony?"

Jack caught the panic in her voice. "I've done a sweep of the area, and it appears he has been taken, presumed a hostage." He kept it emotionless. While the anger was building up inside him, with the frustration at not being able to act immediately and the guilt he felt at splitting up, he needed to keep it simple. There would be plenty of time for anger later on. If he was going to find his friend, he needed a level head.

"Oh, God."

Jack caught a few hushed words, and the distant sound of heels along the tiled floor of CTU as Michelle was no doubt led away to absorb the shock of the news.

"Jack, I need you to get back here." Bill's tone left no room for arguments.

"Bill, I'm taking the rest of the men and going after Tony-"

"No! That is a direct order, Jack. What do you think you can do from there? Come back and we'll work this up." The line went static as Bill presumably removed his headset and threw it angrily down on the desk.

…

Chloe immediately began running through the satellite imagery, looking for any clue as to where Tony may have gone and who may have taken him in the seconds following the blast. Curtis was sat next to her, but even together they were failing to come up with any clear leads.

"That could be a vehicle, there," Curtis muttered, pointing to the corner of the screen. The old house lay in more of a ruin that it had previously; what little remained of it consisted of stones and fragments of brick. Just a few feet away from where the outer back wall should have been, Curtis could make out the outline what he thought was a van.

"Yes, yes it is," Chloe nodded, zooming in closer in an attempt to capture the licence plate. Closer inspection informed them that their van was in fact a dilapidated truck that looked as though it hadn't moved in the best part of six months. "That's not our vehicle," she conceded, rubbing her temple at the first signs of a now inevitable headache.

"Michelle's not doing too good," Curtis sighed, sitting back in his chair as the analyst loaded up another set of images.

"Well, would you be, if the person you loved had been taken hostage?" Chloe was well aware of the harshness of her tone. When Jack had called in, she had taken a moment to thank God that he was alive, before quickly realising that there were far greater things at stake than her feelings.

Besides, who was she to thank God? She wasn't his wife, his girlfriend… she was just his friend.

…

Jack brought the car to an abrupt halt in the rear parking lot. Not bothering lock the vehicle behind him, he strode purposefully towards the back entrance, wrenching open the door and almost walking into Audrey, who had been waiting for him.

"You went against my father's orders!" she hissed, matching his pace as he marched down the long, brightly lit corridor that led to the arms room.

"I was following a lead," Jack retorted, not looking at her.

"A lead? Some lead, Jack. Look where it got you." She hurried to move in front of him, blocking his path. "Now Tony's missing and all because that analyst of yours gave you bad intel."

Her words had the desired effect.

"Excuse me?" Jack's voice was like venom, and his eyes flared with pent up rage. "Are you suggesting it is Chloe's fault that Tony is missing?"

"I'm saying," Audrey muttered, fighting to keep her composure in the face of Jack's wrath, "that perhaps you all ought to have looked a little more closely at the intel she found, before acting on it. Now that you have a missing agent, wouldn't it be wise to take a second look at it? Better late than never."

"I tell you what would be wise, Audrey. Staying out of my way." Jack made to move past her but found himself hindered, just as Bill had previously. "I don't want to argue with you. Not now."

Sensing that this wasn't going to get her anywhere, Audrey relented and allowed him access to the arms room. But she wasn't finished yet.

"Where were you? Last night, I mean," she enquired, changing tack.

Jack paused, one foot over the threshold of the door. "I went to my apartment," he told her smoothly.

"Why not come back to our home? You know, the one we purchased so we could have somewhere to live every time we came down to this God forsaken city. And I thought you'd sold that apartment," she added, her eyes narrowing.

"I needed to be by myself, can't you understand that for once?"

"By yourself?" Audrey lowered her voice and placed a hand on his arm. "Couldn't you have talked to me? I thought that's what we were meant to do; discuss things with each other."

Jack closed his eyes and rested his head against the slightly ajar door. "Then why didn't you discuss with me the fact that you were bringing your father into this?"

"I did! I told you-"

Jack's eyes snapped open. "That's it. You _told _me. You didn't consult with me, or Bill."

"This isn't about Bill, it's about us," Audrey told him.

"Yes, it is, you're right." Jack removed her hand from his arm. "And it was you who made it that way."

For the second time in as many days, Audrey found herself facing a blank door, as it slammed shut in her face.

…

"We need to get out there," Jack said plainly, pacing the floor of the situation room. Bill and Curtis were also standing, and it was putting Chloe on edge. A few seats away, Michelle watched the men sadly, a tissue crumpled in her hand. Something didn't feel right. Michelle was normally strong, could hold it together. Tony had been in danger before; why should this be any different?

As Chloe swept her gaze across the room, the answer dawned on her almost instantly.

They were powerless. They had no leads; the satellite had offered nothing they didn't already know, and the remaining men of the delta team had been too injured to recall exactly what had happened. They had hit a proverbial brick wall.

"That intel, Chloe, where did you get it from?" Jack had rounded on her, was now stood mere feet away and was bearing down on her in such a manner that made her uncomfortable.

"I told you," she replied, adopting a no-nonsense tone. "It was from something in your file." It was her defence mechanism kicking in, and Jack knew it. He backed off.

"Where, exactly?" he asked, walking slowly round the room.

Chloe took a deep breath. "I found the address from the classified section of your file, under Operation Phoenix. It was an address, you, Tony and Mark had stayed at during the mission."

Jack shook his head. "No, it wasn't."

Michelle frowned. "No, I would have remembered it. Tony would have remembered it," she agreed, echoing Jack's sentiments.

"What is going on here?" Bill muttered, speaking for the first time since they had entered the room. "Are we saying that Jack's file has been hacked into?"

"It can't have been," Curtis responded. "How?"

"There was a block on it, from Washington," Chloe reminded them. "Maybe they did something."

"Why would Washington alter Jack's file?"

Michelle's question hung in the air; no-one could give her a satisfactory answer.

"Well, if that's the case, then that means Tony's file could have been altered, too," Bill said finally. "Chloe, look into it. Can you trace the point of origin of the block?"

Chloe shook her head. "No, Mr Buchanan. You need a higher access level. You're the only one who can do it."

He sighed. "I was. Heller's taken my access codes."

"Son of a bitch," Jack muttered.

"How about another way?" Curtis suggested. All eyes fell on him. "Jack, you could ask Audrey if she knows anything about this block. After all, it suddenly lifted this morning, as soon as her father showed up."

Only Chloe saw Jack tense up at Curtis's suggestion. His eyes met hers briefly, but Chloe looked away.

"I'll try," was all he said.

"One last thing," Bill told them. Michelle and Chloe paused as they stood up. "We need to find out what the address actually _means, _and whether or not it had any links to Russell."

…

Bill retreated back to his office as his team dispersed to their various stations across the bullpen. Sighing, he closed the door, wanting nothing more than for the wretched day to be over. The last thing he needed was the arrival of Secretary Heller and Audrey outside his office, only seconds after he had collapsed into his desk chair.

"Come in," he called wearily, straightening his tie and making an attempt at looking as though they were interrupting something important.

"Bill, it seems I have been wrong," Heller began, not taking the chair that Bill half-heartedly offered him. Audrey had just sat down when she shot a questioning glance in her father's direction. "Dad?"

"Audrey called me in here because she was worried about how things were being run. She was concerned that the DOD was being kept out of the loop, and while I'm not at all happy about this, I have come to the conclusion that my presence here is merely hindering your team's investigations."

A shocked silence filled the room.

"So you're leaving?" Bill asked calmly, when it was clear that the Secretary had not come to provoke an argument.

The older man nodded. "Yes, I am."

Bill watched in wry amusement as disbelief shrouded Audrey's face. Evidently she had not been informed beforehand of her father's decision.

"Audrey, there is no need for me to be here." Heller turned his attentions to his daughter. "Everything checks out. I just needed to make my presence felt."

_And boy didn't you do that, _Bill thought.

"If you feel the need to complain at all about my being here, Bill, please, feel free to contact DC." The Secretary of Defence moved towards the door and motioned for Audrey to do the same. "But I warn you. The DOD must not be kept out of this. I want up to date information on your investigation. The second you find Agent Almeida, or this Mark Russell, I want to know about it. I'm leaving Audrey behind to act as liaison, as per the original agreement with CTU," he added.

"Just a minute." Bill stood to meet the other man's gaze. "You said there were two people holding up this investigation. I understand that I was one of them," he said darkly, "but I am interested to know who the other person was. No doubt one of my team."

He watched as Audrey and her father exchanged glances, obviously deciding whether or not to divulge the information Bill was asking for.

"This person does not appear to be a threat any longer," Heller said eventually, one hand on the door handle.

"A threat?"

"A security threat," Audrey explained. "I was worried that she was breaching security, what with the so called block on Jack and Tony's files."

"Don't you worry, we're looking into that," Bill told her crisply. "Next time you have a concern about me, or one of my agents, Ms Raines, I advise you to come to me before bringing your father in to sort it out for you."

Audrey looked to her father for help, but Heller's attention remained on the CTU Director.

"I apologise for wasting your time, Bill." He pulled the door open and held it while Audrey stepped gracefully out into the hallway. "I remind you that Audrey will be staying here, and I trust I will have no further problems concerning yourself or Ms. O'Brian?"

"You can be sure of it."

…

The usual comfort of tech one did little to soothe Chloe's mind as she worked through Tony's file. She had withdrawn to the room in an attempt to work quicker and without interruptions, but she had found herself left alone, with only the thoughts in her head for company.

Back out on the floor, Curtis and Michelle were contacting delta teams in the surrounding area of the house, placing them on standby in case any new information were to present itself. So far it hadn't, and it was placing a strain on all of them.

She had seen Secretary Heller and Audrey heading up to Bill's office but chose not to wait around for whatever argument was sure to follow. She'd told Michelle where she could be found if she was needed, and had made her was swiftly out of the bullpen.

As she worked through the file, Chloe came across the exact same address as she had in Jack's. It confirmed their worst suspicions, that both files had been altered. The million dollar question was, why? She only hoped that Bill had been able to retrieve his access codes. The sooner they uncovered the origin of the block, the better.

"How are you getting on?"

The sound of Jack's voice caused her to jump. Startled, she looked round to see him walking towards her, still wearing his Kevlar. He'd been pacing his office ever since the conference with Bill had broken up, and Chloe could tell it was eating at him, the inability to defy Bill's orders and go and look for Tony.

"I found the same thing," Chloe informed him, scanning through the last few pages of the file but finding nothing of interest.

"Heller's gone," he said quietly, pulling up a chair and sitting down next to her.

"And Audrey?"

"No, she's here." He didn't sound too thrilled by the prospect, but Chloe said nothing.

"He's kept her here as liaison. Bill's just told me. He's got his access codes back and is working on finding out where the block came from."

"Oh, right." There was something else, something he was keeping from her.

"She called her father in to keep an eye on you, too," Jack said finally, hating each word as it left his lips. "She felt you were a security breach."

Chloe felt anger boil up inside her, but she bit her tongue. "Oh." She turned to face him. "Why would she say that?"

He closed his eyes against the pain he could see in hers. "I don't know, sweetheart, I just don't know."

If he realised what he'd said, he didn't show it. Chloe focussed her attention back on the screen in front of her, swallowing hard against the lump in her throat. She took her time in closing down Tony's file, her mind still processing that one word that had no doubt been a slip of the tongue.

…

"CTU, Dessler."

"Ah, is that Michelle?"

"Who is this?" The heightened pitch of her voice caused Curtis to frown at her curiously. Michelle pointed at the phone and mouthed "Russell." Curtis hurried away, returning seconds later with a kit for triangulating the call.

"I think you know who I am, Michelle. Now, listen up. Do not bother tracing this call. I used to work for you, so don't think I am stupid. I know what you're doing there."

"We're not doing anything," Michelle informed him, needing to keep the guy on the phone long enough for Curtis to have a chance. Despite Russell's warning, she had a feeling that the call would be traceable.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm not calling to check up on your progress, Ms. Dessler. Or should that be, Mrs. Almeida?"

Michelle bit her lip. "Go on."

"I have your husband, as you are no doubt aware."

"If you've hurt him-"

Russell laughed. "If I've hurt him, what? What can you do?"

He was riling her but Michelle didn't let herself fall for it. "Tell me what you want." She shot a glance at Curtis, who was so far drawing a blank.

"It's simple, really," Russell replied. "I want a trade."

Beside her, Curtis nodded to let her know that he had traced the call.

"I'm listening."

Russell's next words chilled her to the core. "You want the bombs, I want Jack Bauer. It's a mutual purpose, Michelle. Trade Jack for Tony and I will lead you to one of the bombs."

Before Michelle could respond, the line went dead.

…

"You son of a bitch, I guarantee you they will have traced that call," Audrey muttered, locking herself once more inside holding room three.

"No matter. I'm not worried about that."

"You should be."

She heard him laugh. "Audrey, Audrey. Whose side are you on?"

"This trade… for Jack… do you really need to do this?"

"Ah… cold feet. Well, it is understandable, I guess. I mean, you did love him."

"I _do _love him."

"Of course you do. That's why you're doing this. Because you love him and trust him. Sure." Mark's tone became serious. "Listen, Audrey. I don't want to know about you and Bauer. Frankly, I don't care. You can't pull out of this now."

"I know that," she muttered, her eyes flicking to the door lest she should once again be interrupted.

"Now, listen. Buchanan will do the exchange, because Bauer will convince him it's for the good of this country. I meant what I said; I am going to lead them to one of the bombs. But while they are doing that," Mark continued, "I'm going to need you to do something else."

"Haven't I done enough for you?"

"I promise you, you will like this part."

Sighing, Audrey sat down at the nearest chair and awaited her instructions. "Well, what is it?" she demanded, freezing as she heard footsteps approach the door and linger outside. "I think someone's coming, so hurry up."

"Why so impatient?" Audrey heard him shuffling papers, apparently in no hurry. It crossed her mind that he really had been planning this for years, just like he'd told her. "I need you to hack into CTU's computer system."

"I can't do that!" she cried, as the footsteps out in the hall receded. "I mean, I don't have the know-how."

"Then I suggest you find someone who does."


	6. Chapter 5

_**Mutual Purposes- Chapter Five**_

The situation room was silent as the team digested Mark Russell's demands. They were all present; even Audrey, much to everyone's disgust, but Bill was powerless to refuse her.

"We definitely got a trace on the call," Curtis informed them. "He told Michelle not to bother but I tried anyway."

"The chances of him still being at that location are _very _small," Bill muttered, shaking his head wearily.

"No, I think we've got a chance here, Bill. I think he will genuinely lead us to one of the bombs." Jack was in his usual position by the door, his eyes scanning the room impatiently. "We worked with this guy. If Tony were here he would say exactly the same thing."

There was a sharp intake of breath as Michelle fought back the tears. Chloe offered her a friendly smile, which the older woman returned. Audrey, however, stood graciously from her seat and made her way over to Michelle, perching on the chair next to her and placing a comforting arm around her shoulders. The look of shock that flitted over Michelle's face was brief, but missed by no-one.

"Tony's not here, Jack," Audrey said crisply. "No thanks to-"

"That's enough," Jack muttered darkly, his eyes flashing a warning.

"I think Jack is right," Curtis offered, hastily changing the subject. "Why else would Russell _let _us trace the call? I know I didn't work with the guy," he added, nodding at Jack, "but it fits."

"I suggest you check this intel before you go launching another strike," Audrey muttered.

"It's one hundred percent correct," Chloe responded, frowning.

"Then let's do it." Bill stood up, a sign that the meeting was soon to be at an end. "Jack, I will send a team with you. I don't want to do this swap unless it is a dire necessity."

"It will be," Jack told him. He threw open the door and strode out into the bullpen without a second glance.

…

This time Chloe didn't make her way down to the arms room. She didn't need to be there when Jack left, knowing that there was a high probability that he may not come back.

Michelle had set up at the station next to her; the two were to be running point on the trade. Curtis had been sent out into the field with Jack. No-one needed reminding how dangerous the situation was. Before Jack had gone, Michelle had quietly asked him to bring Tony back to her. He'd nodded, replying that he would do everything in his power. Chloe knew Michelle didn't want the trade to go ahead any more than the rest of them, but she was starting to understand that it was difficult to keep your emotions at bay when the person in question was someone you loved.

As Michelle spoke to Curtis over the headset, Chloe ran the satellite imagery, sending frequent updates to Jack's PDA. The location of the call was only twenty minutes away, an abandoned factory in a less than savoury part of the city. Something in Chloe's mind had started ticking when she had seen the address; it unnerved her that the locations they had uncovered so far were run down, disused buildings. She guessed that Russell wouldn't be stupid enough to use high profile meeting places, yet the idea of wandering around a derelict building in the early evening filled her with a sense of unease.

Across the floor, Audrey was barking orders into her cell phone, no doubt to a terrified young lackey. The woman confused her. Audrey's comment on the reliability of the intel had put Chloe's back up; it was as though she was suggesting it was her fault that Tony had been taken hostage.

"Approaching the location now."

Jack's voice over the radio brought Chloe's attention back to the task in hand. Bill had appeared behind her, hands on his hips as he listened intently to the scene that was unfolding across town. "I found a lead on that block," he said quietly, during a lull as Jack no doubt prepped his team. Both Michelle and Chloe looked up at Bill expectantly, but his eyes were focussed on the brusque figure of the Department of Defence liaison.

"It came from the DOD."

…

"Are you sure you want to go through with this, Jack? We can secure Russell now and get Tony back, not bother going through with the trade." Curtis loaded his weapon and cast a concerned look in Jack's direction.

"We apprehend Russell now, he will not lead us to the bombs," Jack replied, his own weapon holstered as he waited for his team. "If we take him back to CTU, he won't talk. Trust me, I knew this guy."

Curtis nodded. "Alright." Turning to the rest of the team, he issued orders for them to remain out of sight until needed. "Follow at a distance," he instructed, jogging to catch up with Jack who was already entering the building. He heard one of the men say something into the radio, undoubtedly informing CTU of their position.

The sky was already darkening and the two men found their sight hindered further by the almost complete blackness of the interior of the warehouse. Curtis went for his flashlight but he sensed rather than saw Jack shake his head. "He doesn't need to know we're here yet."

They walked further into the building, the fading light from outside becoming all but a pin prick. There appeared to be windows lining the uppermost section of the walls, but from what Jack could see they were dirty and had most likely not been opened since the factory shut down.

There was an underlying smell of damp mixed with rotting wood. The ground beneath their feet was soft; a long forgotten carpet helping to muffle their footsteps. Behind them, the back up team entered the building but remained posted at the door.

The sound of a door opening somewhere in the murky blackness brought Jack and Curtis to a halt.

"Jack Bauer, is that you?"

Before Jack could respond, light flooded the warehouse, temporarily blinding him. As he blinked, he could make out the bruised but very much alive figure of Tony being marched into the room by two henchmen. Their eyes met briefly, and Jack allowed a wave of relief to wash over him before returning his attention to Mark Russell.

"You know it is, you son of a bitch," he responded, reaching for his weapon. Beside him, he saw Curtis do the same. Russell's absence unnerved him; he could hear him but the vastness of the room ensured that the voice reverberated off the walls. Jack turned in a circle, gun drawn, until he saw the man in question step out of the shadows a little to Tony's right.

He was much… smaller… than Jack remembered him. His face was slightly disfigured, perhaps from the fire he claimed Jack and Tony had abandoned him in, or perhaps from the mission that had supposedly taken his life. Yet he commanded a presence, and his voice was deadly serious.

"You've come to do the trade? Excellent. I thought you would."

Jack ignored him. "We do not negotiate with terrorists."

Russell laughed, a sound that chilled Jack to the very core. "Blah blah. Save me that, Jack. I used to work with you."

"If you used to work with us, then you will know that this little plan of yours isn't going to work," Curtis warned.

"Oh, Jack. You brought a friend? New, is he? Obviously doesn't know how this works."

"Let's not play games here, Mark." Jack took a step forward. He didn't allow himself to look at Tony, needing to remain blank and professional.

"I'm not playing games. I've already made it perfectly clear to the woman."

"What woman?"

But Russell wasn't listening, already moving the subject towards the switch. "I meant what I said, Jack. I will lead you to one of the bombs."

It was too easy.

"You wanted us to trace this call."

Another laugh. "How quickly he catches on, Jack! He's a good one, I can tell."

"Shut up and quit stalling."

"Fine. If that's how you want to play it. Not much of a reunion, is it, Jack? I was hoping the three of us could sit down and talk about old times, before Phoenix." He sighed. "I never thought the two of you would abandon me like that, not after what we went through to get that mission."

"We never left you, you bastard." Tony spoke for the first time since the meeting had begun, and earned himself a swift kick in the stomach for his troubles.

While Jack winced as he saw Tony's face contort in pain, a part of him realised that Russell truly believed they had left him to die. He recalled the conversation the two of them had had with Chappelle only minutes after Russell had staggered through the back entrance of CTU…

"_I thought you said he wasn't there?" Ryan strode angrily into the men's locker room, where Jack and Tony were changing after the field mission. Tony's arm was bandaged, a reminder of the flames that had licked the walls and torn through the office block as he and Jack had searched frantically for their partner._

"_He wasn't there." Jack slammed his locker shut and stood to face the Regional Director._

"_Well, he's just turned up. Barely alive. I've sent him to medical. Believe me, as soon as he can talk, I'm going to get his side of this." Chappelle went to leave, but Tony stopped him._

"_I think you have already made up your mind about who to believe, Ryan."_

_The three men shared a dangerous look._

"_Maybe you're right, Almeida." Ryan straightened his tie. "What I can't get my head around is the fact that you two, his partners, would leave him to die. Why would he lie about it?"_

"_Why would __**we **__lie about it?" Jack shouted, moving so that he was mere inches away from Chappelle._

_An uneasy smirk fell across the older man's lips. "I know your track record, Bauer." He turned to Tony. "I would have expected better from you, Tony, but then you always did have a habit of copying whatever Jack did."_

_Jack lunged for him but found himself restricted by Tony's grip on his arm. "It's not worth it, Jack." Tony's voice was masking a barely controlled anger._

_A week later, Tony had found himself replaced as head of tactical, and Jack was on a plane to Chicago._

"What's taking so long?" Audrey demanded, appearing as if out of nowhere in front of the comm. station.

"Jack is finalising the switch," Michelle replied briefly, her attention on the screen in front of her.

"You mean, he's actually going to go through with it?" Audrey's voice was quiet, speaking more to herself than to the agents before her. Bill frowned but said nothing.

"It seems as though Russell's going to take Jack to where one of the bombs is," Chloe said suddenly. Audrey felt her stomach lurch as Mark's words replayed in her head: "_Buchanan will do the exchange, because Bauer will convince him it's for the good of this country. I meant what I said; I am going to lead them to one of the bombs." _Nausea threatened but she swallowed against the bile in her throat. She had almost convinced herself that Jack wouldn't do it, that for once he would listen to Bill and bring the suspect in for questioning. It still amazed her how little she actually knew and understood him.

"Jack will be okay, Audrey," Michelle offered, noticing the blonde's pale complexion. "He's our best field agent."

"He's going to take Jack and… hang on…" Chloe pressed a few buttons to adjust the volume in her ear. "… and he's giving Tony ten minutes before he can follow him."

"Send a delta team to the area, tell them to remain out of sight until I say so," Bill commanded, rushing back towards the stairs. "I'm calling the President."

"Already done," Chloe announced. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Audrey walk slowly away from the comm. unit and back to her station. She felt a small nuance of pity as the other woman collapsed into a chair and held her face in her hands. It wasn't until she heard the sound of Tony's voice over the radio that it hit her. Chloe averted her eyes from Audrey and said a silent prayer to whoever was listening, willing them to keep Jack safe.

…

"Come in."

For the second time that day, Bill found himself distracted from his work. He hung up the phone to the President, pleased with the support he had received. He had promised to send the White House updates every half hour, including news of the alleged block on CTU's system from the Department of Defence. While Bill had assured him there was nothing assumed about the allegations, he appreciated that the President would be unsettled by the idea of his own staff hindering an investigation.

"You wanted to see me?"

Audrey's voice cut into his thoughts. He'd almost forgotten the brief call he'd made to her before speaking to the President.

"Yes, please sit down."

Audrey stepped into the office and closed the door. The atmosphere was tense, neither of them needing a reminder of the earlier conversation that had taken place.

"I have uncovered the origin of the block on Jack and Tony's files," Bill informed her, getting right to the point. He watched as Audrey's head bowed slightly, and he felt a pang of sympathy. "I understand you are worried about Jack, but I have my best team on that," he added in a gentler tone.

"I appreciate that, Bill." Audrey forced a smile. "Thank you for keeping me apprised of everything." She shifted in her seat. "So, the block? Where has it come from?"

Bill took a moment before responding, trying to gauge her reaction, but Audrey's face remained passive, almost quizzical.

"I'm sorry to say that it came from the Department of Defence," he said finally, sitting back in his chair.

"You must be wrong."

"I'm not wrong, Ms. Raines. The trace is conclusive."

Audrey stood and walked around to the other side of the desk, where she peered disbelievingly at the computer screen. It took her mere moments to accept that Bill was right.

"I don't understand it," she murmured, returning to her chair. "I can tell you now that neither my father nor I were responsible for it."

"Would there be anyone else in your department who could authorise a block?" Bill regarded Audrey seriously. "The files were altered, too. We need to assume that person who blocked them was responsible for the alterations."

Audrey frowned as she considered what the Director was saying. "I would have to agree with that judgement. There are others, of course, who have the ability to do this, but I don't for one minute think they would actively stall an investigation." She rose once more. "I will look into it, Bill. But we may have to be working under the supposition that the DOD's systems were hacked."

"And you think that CTU may be at risk, too?"

She nodded. "I think it would be safe to say that, yes. Let me make some phone calls and I'll get back to you." She placed one hand on the door and had pulled it half open when she stopped and turned back. "Do you mind my asking who uncovered the trace? Was it you, or your analysts?"

Bill caught the note of distaste on the final word, but chose to let it pass. "It was me," he replied. "I am the only one with sufficient clearance."

Audrey smiled. "Thanks, Bill. I'll get back to you."

…

"CTU, this is Almeida. Can you confirm that ten minutes have passed?"

Tony and Curtis waited impatiently for instructions in the lead SUV. Neither of them doubted that Russell was serious about the time delay.

"Tony, this is Chloe. Another two minutes."

"Copy that." Tony sighed in frustration. "We need to get going," he muttered, hitting the dashboard with his fist. After a couple of minutes of arguing, Curtis had taken the wheel, concerned about Tony's ability to drive.

"Are you… okay?" Curtis asked tentatively, watching the emotions flit across Tony's face. "I mean, did he work you pretty hard?"

"No, not really. He didn't want me for anything; I was just a stand in until Jack got here. I got a couple of kicks, but nothing serious." He didn't elaborate on how Russell had tried to make him feel guilty for the fire that had almost cost all of them their lives.

The radio crackled into life, jolting the two men out of their discussion. "This is CTU, you are go. I repeat, you are go."

Chloe had barely had time to finish her sentence, before Curtis had fired up the ignition and pulled out into the Los Angeles evening traffic. "Where are we headed, Chloe?" he shouted.

"You want a left at the next intersection, then a hard right… as far as we can see you're headed straight on after that for five miles."

"Copy. Thanks, Chloe."

Curtis slammed his foot down on the break. In the rear-view mirror, he saw the two delta teams do the same as they took the corner.

"What do you think he's going to do to Jack?"

Tony clenched his jaw. "He blames Jack more because Jack led the team. I don't think he's going to hurt him. At least, not yet."

…

"Where are we going?" Jack demanded, not bothering to struggle against the meagre restraints Russell had placed around his wrists. He'd already realised that he could slip the ropes if he really wanted to, which told him that Russell wouldn't be keeping him in the back of the van for very long.

"You'll see, Jack. Don't go worrying about that now."

"It doesn't make any sense," he continued. "Why not have taken me in the first place? And why not tie me up more securely?"

"I don't like all these questions," Russell muttered. Jack felt the barrel of a gun pressed into his back and he winced. "I took Tony because I had to make him suffer, too."

"We thought you were dead."

"I thought I was dead, too, that day you left me."

Jack laughed bitterly. "I'm not talking about that and you know it. You took over my job and led everyone to believe you were killed in the line of duty."

"It never should have been _your _job, Bauer. Those months we worked as partners… I came to see that you weren't fit to be head of field ops."

"What, and you were?"

"Enough! Are we nearly at the destination?" he shouted at the driver.

"Almost," came the gruff reply, and Jack felt the van pick up speed as it hurtled through the city streets.

"You really do ask a lot of questions, you know," Mark mused. "She's just the same."

Jack frowned, his senses on high alert. "Who is _she_?"

"Oh, I can't tell you that. You'll soon find out, anyway, and I wouldn't want to spoil your fun." He reached into his jeans pocket and retrieved his cell phone. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to make a phone call." He moved away towards the back of the van, shutting himself into a small compartment to ensure that his conversation could not be overheard.

…

Michelle looked up sharply as Audrey's cell phone began to ring. She saw the look of hope flash across the blonde's face. "It might be Jack," Audrey whispered. Michelle nodded encouragingly, although she was sure that when Jack did eventually call in, he would call CTU first.

Audrey disappeared from the comm. unit and out towards the back hallways.

"If it was Jack, why couldn't she just stay here?" Michelle muttered.

"Maybe it's private," Chloe replied, not overly keen on the idea of listening to Audrey coo down the phone.

"It's not Jack," Michelle insisted, getting to her feet. "Curtis has only just got a visual on the van; they're not even at the meeting point yet. And when Jack does call in, you know as well as I do that he will contact us first."

She had to admit that Michelle was right. She opened her mouth to respond when Curtis's voice sounded over the headset.

"The van has just pulled up outside an old hotel, no sign of Jack or Russell yet."

"Maintain your position," Michelle ordered. To Chloe, she said, "I'm going to get a drink of water. Do you want one?"

Chloe shook her head briefly, her eyes and ears trained on the mission that was soon to play out on the screen. She could hear Curtis and Tony talking lightly, and a little way ahead of them the red van that presumably held Jack remained still. The silence was unnerving.

…

Michelle made her way swiftly in the direction Audrey had taken, noting without surprise that she was making her way towards the holding rooms. Sure enough, the door to room three was slightly ajar. Stepping closer, Michelle could make out Audrey's hushed tones and the sound of pen scratching paper.

"…on the computer… yes…. I can do that… when?... okay, thanks, Dad."

The cell phone was snapped shut and Michelle backed quickly away from the room, walking towards the water cooler and grabbing a plastic cup. She had just taken a grateful sip when she heard Audrey's heels clicking on the floor behind her.

"It wasn't Jack, just my father," Audrey told the brunette. "He was using another phone which is why I didn't recognise the number." She sighed audibly. "I was hoping maybe Russell would have let Jack use the phone."

Michelle offered what she hoped was a sympathetic smile, while making a mental note to ask Buchanan if he had given Audrey a key to the holding rooms. She glanced discreetly back in the direction Audrey had taken, and saw that the door was now firmly closed.

"I expect you are relieved that Tony is safe," Audrey commented as the women headed back out onto the floor.

"Yes, I am," Michelle admitted. "But I want to find these bombs, too." She stopped before Audrey's station and waited while Audrey tapped a code onto her computer keyboard. "Sorry, Dad wanted me to do this for him as soon as." She smiled brightly as she hit the return key. "There. Done."

…

The back doors of the van swung open and Jack was pushed roughly out onto the grass verge. He glanced around briefly, noting a dark vehicle parked just out of sight on the main road.

"Tony here already, is he?" Mark asked, stepping up to Jack and following the direction of his gaze. "He's good. Alas, not quite good enough."

Before Jack could ask what was meant by that, he was pushed and told to start walking. The air was cooler now, and he found himself shivering involuntarily. It was hard to believe that it was just that morning Secretary Heller had announced he was taking over CTU. So much had happened in a short space of time.

They walked for a few minutes in silence. Mark pushed open a door and they all filed inside. Once again, the air was dank and putrid. Jack could make out numbers scratched into the nearby doors and quickly deduced that he was now in a rather distasteful hotel.

"Don't think I'm going to sit around and wait for Tony to catch me," Mark warned, flipping a light switch. Jack blinked. The hotel was barely standing; cigarette ends littered what was left of the carpet, and the paper was peeling from the walls and ceiling. A little to his right, he could make out a set of precarious looking stairs. Further down still, a tiny elevator stood waiting, its metal doors gaping into blackness.

While Mark gathered his men by the door and began to brief them, Jack closed his eyes momentarily, his thoughts drifting back to his earlier talk with Chloe. That too seemed a lifetime ago. The pain and confusion in her eyes still lingered at the forefront of his mind, coupled with the way she couldn't meet his gaze as they left the tech room. He knew exactly what the cause was of her change in mood; he'd slipped up. He'd called her something and she wasn't sure how to take it. The last thing he'd wanted to do was scare her…

"Jack, are you with us?"

He was snapped back to reality by the sound of Mark's voice. It sounded distant. Looking up, Jack saw that the henchmen had left. He could hear the sound of the van being restarted: Russell wasn't going to stick around.

"There is a bomb in this hotel. You have…" Mark paused and made a show of looking at his wrist watch. "Fifteen minutes to find it."

With that, he turned on his heel and made his way back to the van.


	7. Chapter 6

_**Mutual Purposes- Chapter Six**_

Curtis and Tony watched as the red van started up, disappearing seconds later back onto the main road, a cloud of dust in its wake. Weapons drawn, the two agents alighted from their vehicle, Tony signalling to the delta team to stay where they were.

"CTU, this is Manning, can you confirm that Russell has left the location?" Curtis muttered into his radio, eyes warily scanning the area immediately surrounding the hotel.

As Chloe's voice sounded in his ear, Curtis became aware of a figure running towards them. Tony had seen it too, and had come to a complete stop.

"Federal agents! Hands in the air!" Tony shouted, gun poised.

"It's Jack," Curtis hissed, relaying the message Chloe had given him. "Mark's gone."

"Damnit!" Tony lowered his weapon and began jogging towards Jack. Curtis saw no choice but to follow.

"There's a bomb in there, set to go off in fifteen minutes." Jack was to the point. There would be time for the relieved slap on the back later on, once this was over. _Once this was over. _It was a phrase he had become all too familiar with in recent years. Pushing that thought to the back of his mind, Jack led them back towards the hotel. Light was now seeping weakly from the main door, which had previously been obscured by the van.

"How are we supposed to find it?" Tony muttered as the back up teams converged on the building and began to sweep the perimeter.

Jack grimaced. "I don't like this any more than you, but we're going to have to search this building, room by room."

…

"It could be anywhere!" Bill shouted, once more running his hands through his hair in frustration. He didn't say it but they all felt it; things were not going in their favour. Russell was maintaining the upper hand, and running them in circles. "It might not even be in the damn hotel."

"Oh, it's in there," Michelle muttered darkly. "I believe Jack when he said Russell was serious in leading us to the bombs. He just didn't tell us how much time we would have."

Chloe said nothing, feeling an overwhelming sense of powerlessness at not being able to _do _anything. This was out of her hands now. She'd guided them there, and she would guide them out. But the finding of the bomb was all down to the field teams.

As Michelle and Bill talked, Chloe allowed her eyes to stray across to Audrey, who was keeping her distance ever since she and Michelle had walked back on to the floor half an hour previously. Chloe had managed to work out that Michelle had followed Audrey. For what reason, she didn't know, nor was she sure she wanted to become involved in whatever disagreement had occurred between the two women.

Chloe let her eyes linger for longer than they should, so caught up was she in her thoughts. She managed to avert her gaze just as the blonde looked up from her paperwork, but she didn't miss the flash of annoyance that clouded Audrey's normally gracious features.

Bill's voice filtered back into her consciousness. "…. We think there are about sixty rooms… yes, I know it's a lot but I can't send you another team in fifteen minutes." From the flecks of irritation in his tone, Chloe knew he was addressing Tony. Michelle sensed it, too, but said nothing. They were all professional enough to know that this was neither the time, nor the place.

"Bill, can I be of any help at all?" Audrey's concerned tone, inflected with just the right hint of sweetness to be acceptable in political circles, sounded from the left of the comm. station.

"Unless you can tell me where this bomb is then I highly doubt it," was Bill's clipped response.

Ever unflappable, ever persistent, Audrey pressed on. "I think he would have put it in a room far from the door, but not too close to the roof, so as to allow less than adequate room for someone to pull out lest they found it." It was as though she were reading from a textbook. Both Michelle and Chloe frowned at her, but Bill looked interested. "Go on."

"How many rooms are there?"

"Sixty, approximately."

Audrey did a quick calculation in her head. "That means there are five floors, each with ten rooms, plus the ground floor-"

"Not forgetting the utility rooms," Michelle interjected, standing back with her arms folded, intrigued as to where Audrey was going with her theory.

"Ah, yes, but I expect those rooms are no longer in use. The hotel has been in decay for years." Michelle's point was instantly dismissed. "I think only… homeless… people are living there now." Chloe caught the change in tone of the other woman's voice. It was as though the idea of someone living in so obviously a repulsive dwelling hit her a little too close to home. But the slip was quickly covered, replaced by the mask Audrey wore so perfectly. "So, five floors, plus the ground, with 10 rooms each," she resumed.

"So you said," Michelle nodded.

"Yes, well. Think about it. Not too close to the door. That rules out the ground and first floor." She ticked them off on her manicured fingers, the pink of her nail polish sparkling in the glare of the overhead lights. "Not too close to the roof. That rules out the top floor."

"That leaves us with second, third and fourth," Chloe continued, but her mind was faster than Audrey's. Following the same theory, she worked it out in her head, voicing her thoughts aloud. "Fourth floor," she said decisively. "He'll want us to think it's the third, half way into the building, but that's too obvious. Fourth," she repeated, grabbing up the headset she had removed upon Russell's departure. Not waiting for the go ahead from Bill, Chloe spoke quietly but quickly into Curtis's ear. Again, that flicker of annoyance across Audrey's face.

"Good work," Bill declared, his hand briefly on Chloe's shoulder. "Let's hope this works," he added to a visibly seething Audrey.

Shaking her head, she forced a smile onto her lips. "Yes. Let's."

…

On Chloe's orders, Jack led the team quickly up the narrow, threadbare stairwell towards the fourth floor, not stopping to question the idea. If it made sense to Chloe, then he accepted it; he trusted her judgment implicitly.

"Okay, so now we have to find the room it's in," Tony announced, arriving seconds behind Jack and casting his eyes round warily, for fear that he would find the bomb lurking innocently in a dimly lit crevice. "Bomb squad's right behind us."

"We're here," shouted a voice from the floor below. Jack peered over the banister to see a four man team, wearing conspicuous red jackets, bounding up the stairs.

"Good. Then let's start looking. One room each, shouldn't take long. Let's do this!"

He didn't need to tell them they were running out of time; they were all vitally aware that they were once again doing battle with the clock.

Jack went into room 46, furthest from the top of the stairs. The door, he noted, was already slightly ajar, a forlorn looking welcome mat discarded at the threshold. Not bothering to wipe his feet, he pushed the door open fully and stepped inside.

The room had a certain lived-in quality to it, odd considering that the hotel had shut down several months ago. Jack tried to recall why business had ceased between these four walls; if his memory served him correctly the management had failed to comply with many rules and regulations, and had been extremely lax with the paying of bills. It crossed his mind that perhaps homeless people had taken refuge in the relative warmth, but this was soon discarded as he spotted what was most definitely a brand new Rolex abandoned on the bedside table. Frowning, Jack took a step closer; it was a woman's watch, of that he was sure. Rummaging in his pockets for a spare tissue, he carefully picked the watch up and pocketed it.

Gradually, one by one his team announced their positions over the radio; the floor was clear. Jack was making a final sweep of room 46, when something caught his eye.

"Tony, I think we have our bomb," he shouted, not bothering to use the radio. Seconds later, he was joined by Tony, Curtis and the bomb squad, who were urging the three agents to move aside.

"This was made by a professional, but it's lazy work," commented a tall, extremely harassed looking guy as he crouched down beside the shoe box. "It's something a kid could make, but this was no kid."

Jack groaned, his hand going to his temple to ease away the tension building there. "Can you diffuse it in six minutes?"

"I should say so. But start getting your men out of here, Agent Bauer."

"Copy that." He moved back out into the hall and rounded up the delta teams. "Bomb squad says to evacuate the building… hold on…" Pushing a button on his PDA, Jack shouted into the radio, "Chloe, can I get an infrared on this place?"

"Sure, Jack." Her voice, level and calm, soothed him somewhat. After a few seconds, an image began to appear on the small screen in Jack's hand. "You should have it, Jack."

"Thank you, Chloe." Jack frowned down at the PDA, rapidly making sense of the red dots. "Okay, this building is clear apart from us. Thank God," he muttered, more to himself than to his men, who were anxious to leave. "Get out and back away from the hotel, keep a distance."

"What about you, Jack?" The men were already moving towards the stairs, but Curtis's words stopped them. "Shouldn't you get out too?"

Eyes flicked between the two men framed in the doorway of room 46. Tony placed a hand on Jack's shoulder. "He's right, Jack."

Jack shook his head. "I need to make sure this goes okay. You go. I'll be out in a minute." He glanced absently at his watch. "Three minutes."

The back up team continued to file back down to the ground floor. Jack was grateful to Tony and Curtis for remaining where they were, and he nodded briefly. "Thank you."

"Agent Bauer, you might want to take a look at this."

…

There was a collective sigh of relief in the bullpen as Jack called in the all clear two minutes later. Chloe saw Michelle sag in her chair, the pretence no longer necessary. Across the floor, Audrey had her head in her hands, shoulders shaking gently. Bill was taking the stairs to his office two at a time, most likely to call the President and inform him of their status.

He'd asked Jack to triple check the bomb squad's findings, but each time the results were conclusive. There was no bomb in room 46, and there never had been.

"That son of a bitch sure knows what he's doing," Bill had muttered.

No sooner had the door to Bill's office closed than the phone beside Chloe's desk started to ring.

"CTU, O'Brian."

The voice on the end of the line was smooth, composed. "Hello, Chloe."

"Who is this?" The sharpness of her tone caused Michelle to look up. Upon receiving no response, Chloe went to hang up the phone, when she was stopped by hysterical laughter. Holding the receiver away from her ear, she repeated her earlier question.

"I think you know who it is."

"Mark Russell."

"Yes, indeed it is. I heard you were smart."

Chloe scowled. "Quit patronising me and tell me what you want." She was careful not to let on that his words had unnerved her.

"Oh, I just wanted to tell you that you have one less bomb to worry about. Congratulations."

"So it was a test?" Chloe all but spat the words.

"Exactly. Call it a practice run for the real thing. I will be calling later with instructions."

"Was that Russell?" Michelle queried, watching as Chloe replaced the phone in the holder. "What did he say?"

"He'll be calling back later with instructions," Chloe replied, her mind replaying his words. _I heard you were smart… _

"What about this? Did he have anything to say?"

"It was a trial run." Chloe shrugged. "I think we're down to two bombs, Michelle. This was just a practice for the real thing, as he said."

"Sick son of a bitch," muttered the brunette, standing and tucking her chair under the desk. "You'd better tell Bill he called. I'm going to go and meet Tony."

Chloe didn't argue as she watched Michelle walk away, didn't call after her that she wanted to go and meet Jack. She knew that informing Bill of the phone call was important. Standing up also, Chloe allowed herself a moment, before turning towards the stairs. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Audrey leave her station and fall into step beside Michelle.

…

Jack stood back while Michelle enveloped Tony in a hug, smiling to himself in spite of the exhaustion now falling over him in waves. He leaned back against the wall, wanting nothing more than to go home to his apartment and fall into bed. He knew he didn't have the patience to deal with Audrey, and nor did he want to.

As though reading his mind, Michelle caught his eye as she pulled away from Tony. "Audrey was right next to me," she said, standing back and frowning. "I wonder where she went?"

Jack shrugged. "It's alright, I'll find her." He ignored the pointed look Tony shot him.

They began making their way back out onto the floor, when the sound of heels clicking quickly towards them stopped them in their tracks. "We'll meet you back out on the floor; I'll stall Bill for a few minutes," Tony offered, taking Michelle's hand and walking away just as Audrey came into view.

Aside from the redness rimming her eyes, Audrey's hair and makeup were flawless. She slowly stepped up to him and hovered awkwardly, unsure.

"You're okay," she whispered, her voice somewhat choked.

Jack felt he had no choice but to pull her into his arms. The angry, patronising glare had faded from her eyes, making her look almost vulnerable. "Of course I am," he soothed, aware that Bill was waiting for him so that he could begin the debrief. "Hey, I've got to go and debrief with Bill, but then we'll talk, okay?"

Audrey pulled away. "That's okay," she replied, managing what she hoped was a smile. As Jack went to walk away, she called, "Are you coming home tonight?"

"Truthfully, Audrey, I don't know that I'll be able to leave here, depending on what new leads come up, if any do."

Gone was the vulnerability, to be replaced an altogether more austere front. "I don't see why that should be necessary, Jack. Bill could always call you if he needed you."

"We'll talk later, Audrey."

"Just give me an answer Jack, for God's sake. Home with me? Or back to your apartment?"

…

Bill followed Chloe down into the bullpen and over to the comm. unit. He waited while she pulled up the data he'd asked for, noting that both Tony and Curtis were back at their stations. "Where's Jack?" he called.

Before Tony could reply, Audrey's voice cut into the conversation from somewhere behind Bill. "He's getting changed," she replied coolly, not breaking her stride as she walked into the situation room, closing the door behind her. Bill frowned at Tony, who shrugged.

"There you go, Mr Buchanan." Chloe sat back as Bill checked the details before him, scribbling down the location of the phone call. "He's taking us on a wild goose chase," he muttered. "This time we're going to make him wait. Curtis, Tony, situation room." Bill had turned away and was now shouting to be heard over the noise of the floor. The two agents got to their feet and walked obediently after Bill. "Oh, and Chloe? Send me the break down report of the last field mission," Bill called back, before disappearing behind the tinted glass walls of the situation room.

"On it," she muttered, moving aside as Michelle pushed her chair back. "Tell Mr Buchanan I'll be two minutes."

"Okay," replied Michelle, tucking her chair under her desk. "If you see Jack, tell him we've started already."

It took Chloe a few minutes to finish off the report she had been writing, adding in schematics and last minute notes before sending it to Buchanan's system. As she was about to leave her station, she noticed a small icon on the bottom right hand corner of the screen. It was flashing green, and Chloe was sure she had never seen it before. Curious, she clicked on it, breathing a small sigh of relief when she saw that it was merely a small upgrade to the system. Accepting the changes, she finally turned and left the comm. station, deciding that stress of the day must have been making her more wary.

"Did you see Jack?" Bill asked, as Chloe pulled open the door to the situation room and took her seat next to Michelle.

"No, Mr Buchanan."

"Right, well, we're just going to have to start- oh, there you are." Bill smiled tiredly as the door swung open once more. He waited until Jack had taken up his position, then cleared his throat and began the debrief.

"Basically he's playing around with us," Tony surmised, once Bill had finished.

"Yes, that's the general gist of it." The older man sighed. "But we cannot assume that the next time, it will be a fake. It could be, and most likely _will _be, the real thing. As I said, he's called Chloe's station only minutes ago, and when he calls back we'll have a location. Now, we're not just going to go running after him like we did this time." Bill stood and began to pace the room. "He doesn't set a time limit until _after _we're in position. Therefore, the longer we delay him, the more time we have to be prepared."

"I don't think we'll be able to put him off for long," Jack interrupted. "If we wait longer than he feels is necessary, he may well decide to stop playing fair."

"He's hardly playing fair now," Michelle observed. "He's got us right where he wants us."

"Where is this next location likely to be?" asked Curtis.

"We just don't know," replied Bill. "The call he just made was traced to a cell phone only blocks away from the hotel. He could be anywhere now. Chloe, have you sent that break down report to my system?"

Chloe nodded.

"Thank you. Okay. Here's what we do. Everyone has to stay put, at least for now. I appreciate that you're all tired, but we don't know when he's going to call back. I'm going to read this break down report, try and see if anything else can be gleaned from it." He turned his attention to Audrey, who hadn't spoken a word since the debrief began. "Audrey, as you don't work for me, I cannot order you to stay, so please, feel free to take a few hours. We'll call you as soon as any new developments rise."

Audrey shook her head. "It's fine, Bill. But thank you. I want to be here and help out."

"I'm afraid it may well just be a case of sitting around." Bill surveyed his team. "Make sure you all get something to eat. This could be a long night."

As the agents made their way back out onto the floor, Jack hung back. Motioning for Tony to do the same, he waited until the door had closed before addressing Bill.

"Bill, there was something else that came up." Jack reached into his pocket and pulled out the Rolex, remarkably still intact despite the day's events. "I found this on the bedside table in room forty six."

"Did you find anything else?" Bill queried, taking the watch and examining it closely.

Jack shook his head. "I conducted a brief sweep once the room was deemed safe, but it was almost spotless apart from this. A few empty food cartons were in the bin. The only prints were male, probably Russell's. This is a woman's watch."

Tony frowned as Bill handed him the watch, taking his time to study it. "We need to get this dusted for prints."

"I already did. That's why I was late," Jack explained. "It's clean."

"Leave it with me," Bill decided. "Jack, ask Chloe to run another background check on Russell, find out if he had or has any female associates. Neither of you know who it may be?" he asked.

Both Jack and Tony shook their heads. "When we worked with him, he'd just divorced, and wasn't seeing anyone," Tony supplied.

"Could be his ex wife's watch?"

"No, I don't think so. But I'll ask Chloe to check it."

"Thanks. And keep me posted. I need to go and speak to Audrey; we have a possible situation with the computer system," he explained as the three men exited the room.

"What kind of situation?" Jack followed Bill over to where Audrey was sat, while Tony broke away and headed back to his station.

Audrey brought her phone call to a close with a perfunctory 'goodbye', and stood up to meet Bill's gaze. "I'm afraid my suspicions were correct," she informed him. "Our systems were compromised, about a month ago. My people are locating the source of the damage."

"Our systems are at risk, too," Bill muttered, more to himself than to Audrey. "Have your people shut down any unnecessary information?"

"Of course."

He turned to Jack. "Ask Chloe to lock down anything that is vitally important to this investigation."

"Anything she does find, make sure she knows it's a need to know basis only," Audrey added.

"I think she knows that already," Jack replied. "I'll go and brief her on this search you want done," he told Bill, walking away before Audrey could say anything more.

…

Michelle read the bulletin as it flashed up on her screen. "Have you seen this?" she asked Chloe. "The Department of Defence's systems have been hacked. Audrey's authorised a block on all important intel."

"Does it say where this leak came from?" Chloe asked, scanning the same report on her own screen.

Michelle shook her head. "No. But I'm sure Audrey will find out. I expect you will have to start monitoring our systems."

"Yes, you will."

Both women looked up as Jack approached the comm. unit. "Anything related to this case, flag it as a need to know basis only."

"I know that, Jack," Chloe muttered, rolling her eyes. She missed the smile that flitted across his lips.

Michelle stood suddenly. "I have to go and talk to Bill," she said. "I almost forgot something."

As she walked away, Jack took up the seat she had vacated. "Bill wants you to run another background check on Mark."

"Why?"

"I found a watch at the hotel, a woman's watch. We need to know if he had, or currently has any female associates that may be helping him with this."

Chloe nodded. "Anything I can go on? Prints?"

Jack sighed. "No, it was clean. I realise that's not very helpful to you, Clo, but see what you can do."

"Okay, Jack."

She worked in silence, well aware of the fact that Michelle had yet to return and that Jack was still occupying the seat next to her. "Was there something else you needed?" she asked. "I can't work with you staring at me."

"I'm not staring."

Chloe felt herself blush. Of course he wasn't staring. Why would he be staring at her?

"Listen, Chloe… can I talk to you?"

She turned round sharply. "About what?" It had come out harsher than she'd intended, but his general mood had put her on edge, ever since that minute in the tech room.

"I… I, uh… just fancy a break from this for a second. Want to grab a coffee?"

He knew just how to twist her arm.

"Oh, alright. Let me just finalise this search… okay." Chloe stood up awkwardly, unsure whether or not to smooth down the creases in her skirt or let them be. Finally deciding on the latter, she smiled at Jack and led the way across to the stairs, towards the break room. Audrey barely glanced up from her desk as the two of them passed her station.

As Jack bustled about making the drinks, Chloe's analytical mind began overreacting to the situation. _He could have asked Tony, or even Curtis…why would he want to spend a spare ten minutes with me?_

"What's wrong?" he asked suddenly, interrupting her thoughts. Jack placed a steaming mug of coffee before her, and Chloe took a grateful sip.

"Nothing. Just tired."

"Hmmm."

"Hmmm what?"

"I know you, and you're not just tired."

"Can't I just be tired, and leave it at that?"

"No."

"Fine." She set down her cup and looked Jack in the eye. "You wanted to talk. So talk. I'm just on edge because of this case, alright?" Chloe took a deep breath. "And… I'm just relieved that you're okay." The words came out quietly, and once more she felt a blush creep across her cheeks.

"Hey." Jack too set down his mug, and hesitantly reached for her hand. He tried not to let the hurt show on his face as she snatched it away and picked up her coffee. "You got us out of there."

"I didn't find the bomb. Not that it was a bomb, but you found it," she babbled, hating how dangerously close to tears she was. "So it wasn't just me."

"We're a team," he said quietly.

Chloe took another sip of her drink, eager to change the subject, anything to stop him looking at her with those beautiful blue eyes. "What did you want to talk about?"

The abrupt change of topic didn't bother him.

"Audrey," he began. "I know you probably don't want to know this but we're having problems and I just don't know if…"

_You're right, I don't want to know. _Chloe swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat, and forced herself to ask him to continue. "You don't know if what?"

"I don't know what to feel about it," Jack said finally. "I mean, I'm not upset. Is that bad?" Those eyes were desperately searching hers, and Chloe couldn't look away.

"Jack… I-I'm probably not the best person to be asking," she muttered, draining the last of the coffee although it was still scalding hot. "Have you talked to… Tony? Michelle?"

"I didn't want to talk about it with them. I'm asking you. You're my best friend."

"So is Tony." _And Tony isn't head over heels in love with you._

"Damnit, Chloe!" Jack held his head in his hands, and she soon realised that the outburst hadn't been directed at her. "What am I going to do? I've told her we need some time apart."

"Maybe that's a good thing."

"Do you think so?"

"Yes. I mean, I guess so. You… you aren't sure at the moment. Perhaps this will help you decide what you want to do."

"I think Audrey's more than capable of deciding things all by herself," he muttered. He shook his head. "I'm sorry, Clo."

Chloe paused as she rinsed out her mug and placed it back in the cupboard. "What are you sorry for?"

"This. Putting it all on you."

She smiled wryly. "It's alright."

Jack stood. "Come on, we'd better get back, see if that search has finished running." Chloe waited while he tidied up and tucked his chair back under the table, then held the door open as they walked back out into the relatively calm corridor. Before either of them knew what was happening, Jack had taken her in his arms and buried his face in her hair.

Chloe froze. She could feel his heart beating in time to her own, his body pressed tightly against hers. This was not a repeat of the reassuring hug he had given Audrey earlier; this time it was him who was seeking comfort, while at the same time trying to calm Chloe's own troubled mind. She'd lost count of the times she'd dreamt about being held in his arms, and was pleasantly surprised to discover how safe and content she felt. She let her arms slip around his waist and he pulled her closer, both forgetting where they were and the fact that Audrey could have walked up the stairs at any moment.

It was Chloe who broke away first, a sudden noise from the floor below reminding her of where she was. She risked a look into Jack's eyes, and almost gasped at what she saw there. But then he blinked, and it was gone, and she wasn't sure if it had been her mind running away from her, caught up in the thrill of a dream that had finally come true.

"Back to work," she said, smiling shyly.

"Yeah." His voice was husky. "Back to work."

Chloe led the way, and was shocked to see him following her back to her station. "Let's see how this search is getting on," he muttered, once again taking up Michelle's seat. A quick glance across the floor told Chloe that Michelle was deep in conversation with Tony and Curtis.

No sooner had they sat down than Chloe's phone rang. Snatching it up, she barely had time to say her name before Bill's angry voice came down the line.

"Chloe, I asked you for that break down report. Where is it?"

"I sent it to you, Mr Buchanan."

"Well, it's not on my system. I suggest you retry, or I will get someone else to do it."

"What's happened?" asked Jack, frowning as the screen changed. Chloe scowled at him in return, typing furiously at the keyboard. "I'm sure I sent him that damn report!"

A quick search of her desktop revealed that she had in fact sent the report. But not to Bill's system.

"This isn't right," she murmured, resending the file but keeping her eyes glued to the screen.

"What?"

"It says I sent the report to the trash," she replied quietly. "But I didn't. I sent it to Mr Buchanan. I know I did."

…

As Tony and Curtis talked, Michelle thought back to the brief discussion she had had with Bill. She had asked him outright if he had given Audrey a key to the holding rooms. He had responded that no, he hadn't, and what on Earth would make her think such a thing?

"I thought maybe it was part of the agreement you had with the DOD," Michelle had muttered. "I saw Audrey in holding three yesterday, and earlier today. I don't know how she got in because they should be locked."

"Her key card grants her access to almost every part of CTU." Bill had spoken the words bitterly. "Although there is a separate key and a manual override necessary for when the rooms aren't in use. She wouldn't have had that. Unless… Secretary Heller cleared it for her without telling me. I wouldn't be surprised."

He'd thanked her for bringing it to his attention, and told her not to worry.

"Curtis, could you go down to tech one and sort this damn port out for me?"

Michelle looked up. "It's alright, honey." She stood. "I'll go. I need something to do."

Tony smiled tiredly. "Thanks."

Michelle walked away from the main floor, pushing the doors open to the back corridors and making her way down towards the tech rooms. She easily located the port and began typing away to rectify the problem. She knew she could have asked Chloe to do it, but she was getting restless just sitting around and waiting for Mark Russell to call.

The sound of the door sliding open alerted Michelle to the fact that she was no longer alone in the room. She silently praised herself for not having switched on the light, and continued working away as the newcomer walked softly into the room. It was a woman, of that she was sure. The heels on the tiled floor stopped only metres away, and Michelle heard a chair being scraped back from under a desk.

"Make this brief… yes, I put the code in, as you asked…"

Michelle wondered why Audrey had to use the privacy of tech one in order to speak to her father.

"Okay, so it should have already affected her system… excellent." She was smiling; this was all going according to plan. "No, don't worry about that. Like you said, it's not your problem."

Audrey's voiced was hushed suddenly. "Yes, I'm in the computer room. Some damn agent keeps following me around. I got caught in the holding rooms; I'm going to have to be more careful."

_Some damn agent, hey. _Michelle felt her hackles rise. The port fixed, she stepped slowly away from the keyboard, anxious to hear the rest of Audrey's conversation.

"Yes, I have to go. You'll be able to gain access to the intel and do what you want now, right? Bill knows the DOD was hacked. He just doesn't know how… but he will. Soon, he will."


	8. Chapter 7

I don't know if anyone is still following this, but thank you to my two reviewers :) I am going to continue with it because I am quite enjoying writing it :D

__

_**Mutual Purposes- Chapter Seven**_

"Something wrong, Michelle?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry, Curtis." She shook her head. "Just… tired, you know. Long day." Michelle smiled. "Have you found anything else?"

"No," sighed Curtis, the frustration evident in his voice. He sat back from the computer, throwing his pen down as he did so. "I only hope Chloe can find something with that search."

Michelle frowned. "Search?"

"Didn't Tony tell you? Jack found a watch in the hotel room, a woman's watch. Chloe is running a background check to see if Russell has any known female associates."

"Oh, right."

"They weren't going to say anything, but it might be important to the investigation so it's a need to know basis only."

"Right." Michelle vaguely remembered Tony having mentioned something to her after they had all left Bill's office earlier. She cast her eyes around the floor, her mind only half focused on what Curtis was saying.

"Is everything okay, Michelle?" Curtis was frowning at her. "Maybe you should take five minutes. Tony's gone for a quick coffee," he added. "Jack came over, said he needed to talk to him. You might catch him in the break room."

She shook her head. "No, it's okay, really. Thanks, Curtis." Her eyes went next to the glass walls of the field ops office on the floor above. Michelle could clearly see the outline of two figures behind the drawn blinds, and decided to remain where she was.

…

Tony watched silently as Jack paced the length of his office, before coming to a halt and all but collapsing into his desk chair. From the couch, Tony had an undisturbed view of the bullpen; he could see Michelle and Curtis talking, and, a little to their right, Audrey reseating herself at her station. From the tension that had been in the air that day, it didn't take Tony long to know what his friend wanted to talk to him about.

And despite the fact that Jack had taken his head off when he'd previously tried to bring the subject up, Tony wasn't one to point the finger and say 'I told you so.'

Jack picked up the single photo he had of Teri and stared at it, feeling the same numbness wash over him whenever he remembered how he had lost her.

"I do it for her," he said quietly, and Tony almost thought he hadn't spoken. "This job. I do it for her."

"I know you do."

"Then why…" He replaced the photo back in the centre of his desk and held his head in his hands briefly. When he looked back up at Tony, the despair was evident on his face. "Then why can't she see that?"

"We're talking about Audrey?" Tony phrased it as a question, although being sure of the answer.

"Earlier, when Bill first put me in charge of the field missions for this case, she told me she didn't want me to go," he replied, not needing to answer the question. "She said, 'What about me?' I told her I would do it anyway." Jack's voice was thick with guilt, and Tony watched him carefully, suddenly concerned.

"It's your job," he offered after a few moments' silence. "She should understand that you are head of field ops, and therefore that's why Bill would have asked you to lead the missions."

Jack stood up once more and faced his friend. "Exactly. That's it. She should understand, shouldn't she?" He took a breath. "Michelle understands you, doesn't she?"

"Michelle knows the job, Jack. She knows what it involves. Maybe Audrey just isn't cut out for it. She is more accustomed to sitting behind a desk in Washington," he added. "You can't make her understand."

"Sometimes it's as though she won't even try."

Tony followed Jack's eyes as they gazed past him and down to the floor below. "Have you tried saying this to her, Jack? I'm probably not the person you should be telling."

"Chloe said that too," Jack sighed.

"Chloe?"

"I asked her advice too," he admitted.

"Get a woman's perspective?"

Jack looked away. "Something like that," he said finally.

Tony stood up also. "I wish this damn guy would hurry up and call," he muttered, glancing at his watch. It was almost midnight. "I don't know about you but I'm about ready to crash."

Jack smiled tiredly. "I'm the same." He glanced towards the door. "We'd better see if anything's come up with this search."

"Chloe will phone you when she finds something," Tony reminded him as they filed out of the office, waiting while Jack shut off the light.

"I know, I just…" He didn't finish the sentence. Tony didn't need to know that being around Chloe calmed him, that when he was with her he didn't have to worry about everything he said or did coming out wrong, because she would understand and accept it regardless.

She looked up as the two of them approached the comm. unit. The shy smile she gave Jack did not go unnoticed by Tony, who received the perfunctory scowl.

"Find anything?" Jack moved so that he was right beside her. Tony took his place behind her chair, his arms folded.

"It's almost finished running." Chloe's voice was quiet; she seemed unsure. "I'm still trying to figure out why that file didn't go to Mr Buchanan." She clicked on a few icons and brought the report up on the screen. "There. See?" Chloe pointed to the left of the report, where the destination was clearly typed. "It _did _go to him."

Tony frowned. "Hold on. That's been rerouted." He stepped closer and pointed to a code at the bottom of the screen. "There."

The three of them stared at the six digit code sitting innocently below the main text of the break down report. "I didn't see that before," Chloe said finally. Jack suppressed an urge to put a hand on her shoulder. He could see the distress that this was causing her, being defeated by the very system she had helped design.

"That's because…" Tony continued, taking the mouse from Chloe's small hand and enlarging the screen. Chloe was too shell shocked to argue. "… it's not one of our codes."

"How do you know this?" Jack asked, now feeling excluded from what was fast becoming a technologically complex conversation.

"I remember from my training, how to recognise outside codes," Tony explained briefly. He saw Chloe's face cloud over. "It doesn't matter that you missed it. It probably wasn't there before."

It was the wrong thing to say.

"It does matter!"

This time, Jack didn't think twice. He laid a hand on her arm, feeling how tense her muscles were. Her eyes flicked to his briefly, before returning to the report. "So you're saying," she asked Tony, a scowl now etched onto her face, "that this has been rerouted to the recycle bin, instead of going to its original destination."

"Yes," Tony replied warily.

Chloe relaxed visibly. Jack removed his hand as she swivelled in her chair and began typing once more. "Then I should be able to work out where it came from."

…

Bill reread the report twice over before closing down his computer and leaving his office. There was nothing in it that could provide anything further to the investigation, nothing they didn't already know.

As he descended the stairs, he felt the heavy metal of the watch in his jacket pocket. It unnerved him. Of course Russell would have associates, but a woman? He cursed himself for not having thought of it earlier.

He stopped at the foot of the stairs, scanning the floor for his team, frowning when he found most of them clustered around the comm. station.

"What is going on here?" he asked, stepping up behind Chloe.

"The search has finished," she replied curtly.

Bill sighed at the hostility in the young woman's voice. "Chloe, I understand you were tired earlier-"

"Bill, now's not the time," Tony muttered under his breath.

The older man shot him a look that plainly told Tony what he thought of his suggestion. However, upon seeing the look of utter dejection in Chloe's eyes, Bill changed tack.

"What have we got?" he asked, looking towards Jack for any indication as to the change in his lead analyst's mood. Jack shook his head.

"A list of women who Mark Russell has been in contact with over the last four years. I ran it from when he took over field ops," Chloe explained, handing Bill the print outs without looking at him.

"No-one on here that either of you recall?" he asked Jack and Tony.

Both shook their heads.

Bill frowned. "This one looks interesting… he appears to still be in contact with her, or at least he was up until a month ago."

"I looked at that too," Jack commented. "Could be who we're looking for."

"Worth checking out," Tony added.

"I've already pulled her details," Chloe said dully. "Nothing much, just a last known location, a phone number. According to her profile…." She scrolled down the list that still occupied the majority of her screen, "according to her profile they have been in contact here in Los Angeles."

"Michelle, Curtis, could you come over here a sec?" Bill shouted, causing the two remaining members of his team to look up, startled out of the stupor that was slowly descending over the whole floor. "It appears we have a name," he told them, as they neared.

"Is this something I should be aware of?"

Curtis was the only one who smiled at Audrey as she approached the station. "Jack found a woman's watch at the scene, we worked up Russell's profile again to see if he had or has any known female associates."

"I should have been informed of this search." Audrey's tone was cool, and directed at Jack rather than Bill.

"We weren't sure if it was anything," Bill started to say, but then stopped as he realised he had no need to apologise to her.

"Looks like it was," she replied.

"Yes, it was."

Audrey glanced at Michelle from over the top of her glasses. "I think I have more of a right to know than you do, since you aren't a department head. Am I correct?"'

"She's as good as," muttered Tony, the coldness of his voice matching that of Audrey's. He looked over at Jack and wasn't shocked to see the anger on his best friend's face.

"You have no right to talk to Michelle like that," Jack said quietly, the warning evident in his voice. Bill hadn't even had the chance to open his mouth. "Your father wants you here, then fine. But you do not bad mouth our agents."

Silence settled over the small group.

"I was merely saying-"

"Can we get back to this?" Curtis's voice interrupted what was surely about to become a very heated argument. "This woman, we need to check her out, see if she is who her file says she is."

"I couldn't agree more," muttered Michelle.

…

"What the hell was that about?"

Audrey stormed after Jack as he made his way once more up to his office, ignoring the fact that the whole bullpen was still privy to their disagreement. He slammed the door behind him, unsure for how much longer he could control his anger.

"Jack, answer me!"

But he wasn't listening. Jack blocked out as much as he could of Audrey's shouting and sat back down at his desk, his eyes instantly looking to Teri's smiling picture.

"Oh, will you listen to me, please!" Audrey placed herself in front of Jack, demanding attention. "What are you looking at?" she asked, when it became clear that Jack had no intention of giving in to her demands.

Her eyes narrowed as she took in the array of photographs on Jack's desk, as though noticing them for the first time.

"There is only one of me," she said quietly.

"Yes."

"And one of your wife-"

"Teri."

"Yes, Teri. I don't understand, Jack." Audrey lowered her voice and sat down opposite him. "Do you still love her?"

"I will always love her," he replied fiercely. Standing up, he moved across to his small wardrobe and began rummaging for a change of clothes. "You didn't come up here to talk about Teri," he observed, keen to change the subject before the tears behind his eyes gave way.

"No, I came to talk about why you sided with Michelle. Surely you can see I have a point about that?"

"Michelle may not be a department head but she's a damn good agent. And she's part of the team."

"So am I, yet you chose not to keep me in the loop."

Jack sighed tiredly, resting his head against the cool metal of the wardrobe door. "It wasn't about keeping you out of the loop."

"Then what was it about?"

"You can't just leave it alone, can you?"

"I'm sorry?"

Jack turned to face her. "You can't just accept something for what it is."

"That's because I don't know what _it _is! All I am asking is that you talk to me, tell me things."

"This isn't about our problems," he said angrily, kicking the door shut. He knew deep down that what he'd said wasn't entirely true.

"See, I think it is."

"Audrey, I have somewhere to be." With a fresh pair of jeans and a t-shirt now bundled in his arms, Jack took a step towards the door of his office. "We need to talk about this."

"About what?"

"About the fact that we just don't understand each other any more."

"I don't think I have ever understood you, Jack, not really." There was no remorse in her voice.

He didn't know what to say, feeling suddenly lost and incredibly alone.

…

"You're saying there is a problem with the system?"

Bill had followed Chloe to the tech room, and waited patiently while she attacked the server. Her attitude towards him was somewhat warmer than it had been, but she had yet to reveal the source of her unease.

"No, there's something wrong with _my _system," Chloe replied, rolling her eyes. "Shouldn't you be giving Jack last minute preparations for the field mission?"

He knew not to take her comment to heart. "We're waiting on Jack," he said.

"Tony's not going too?"

"No. It's not too much of a serious risk. You know what Jack's like, he never wants back up."

"Yes, I know, but will he be… is it okay?" she asked, biting her lip.

"Chloe, I have a team on standby." The Director was caught out by this sudden show of emotion. "Jack will be fine."

Chloe found herself desperately wishing that she were alone with Jack once more, memories of their hug flashing through her mind and causing her heart to constrict. The way he'd taken her in his arms… he'd called her 'sweetheart'…

The server beeped shrilly. Chloe forced her thoughts aside, berating herself for daring to believe that maybe her feelings weren't as entirely one sided as she'd first thought. His girlfriend was in the same building. His beautiful, graceful, elegant, perfect girlfriend-

"Damnit!" she shouted, causing Bill to look at her sharply. "T-the server, I mean, the server's beeping at me," she muttered, hastily covering over her outburst.

"What's it saying?" Bill asked.

"It's saying," Chloe murmured, "that the rerouting code was inputted by me."

"That's impossible." The idea that Chloe would jeopardise an investigation left a bad taste in Bill's mouth, and was not something he could comprehend.

"I know it is," she whispered.

…

Mark Russell smiled as he typed at his laptop.

"Is there anything I can get you, Mr Russell?" enquired a young guy who's name escaped the former government agent. He couldn't have been any older than fifteen, and he wore a look of utter terror.

"No, thank you, I'm good." Mark attempted to smile at the boy but he'd already fled from the room. Sighing, he continued with his work, stopping only when his cell phone began ringing incessantly from his jacket pocket.

Retrieving it, he glanced only briefly at the caller ID before flipping it open.

"Yes?"

There was a pause on the other end.

"They found the watch."

The smile on Mark's face broadened. "Good."

"Good? How is it good? Now they'll find me."

"I thought you didn't care about that," he mused.

"I-I didn't, but- oh, God what have I done?"

"Relax, Audrey. The watch is clean."

"Bill Buchanan has just authorised a search into your background, to pick up a trace of any female associates." The panic was evident in her voice. "They'll find me, Mark, and it will only be a matter of time before they find you."

"I didn't think you cared about me any more."

The normally unruffled woman on the other end of the phone line almost squeaked at the suggestion. "Of course not. You know why I'm doing this, and it's not for you."

"Yes, yes, you made that clear," Mark muttered, bored with the conversation. "Look, you say he's done a search… have they found anything?" He recommenced his work at the computer, not satisfied until the all too familiar eagle emblem of his former employer was emblazoned across the screen. As a joke, he typed in his old access codes, laughing when the red letters flashed 'access denied.'

The laugh unsettled Audrey, and he knew it. "Yes. That's what I am also worried about. They are going to contact a woman who is known to have had dealings with you in the last month."

"And we know who that is, don't we."

"I wanted to make sure you put in false information."

"Of course I did. That little code you put in for me let me have access to my file, how ironic is that?" Another chuckle. "I changed many, many things, Audrey."

"Including my name and details?"

"Yes." Mark entered the Level Six clearance code Audrey had secured him, and brought up his file. "According to this, you are now one Miss Rebecca Anderson, and no, you will not be at the address you are supposedly living at when Agent Bauer comes looking for you."

"What are you going to do to him?"

"Oh, I think it's better if you don't know that."

…

Chloe traipsed miserably back out onto the floor, trying to ignore the look of confusion on her superior's face. Bill hadn't said a word; he knew that any gestures of comfort he could offer would be rejected.

Finally, as he held the door open for her and followed her towards the comm. unit, he said, "Let me at least get someone from Division to take a look at this, confirm it wasn't you."

"You don't need to do that, Mr Buchanan." Chloe's voice was a monotone. If he didn't know better, Bill would have said she was fighting back tears. "I know what the server said; it isn't going to say anything different for anyone else."

"What's going on?" asked Michelle, immediately noticing the subdued aura surrounding her colleague. She stood up as Bill and Chloe approached, alarmed by the way Chloe's shoulders were slumped. She moved as though to hug her, but thought better of it, coming to the same conclusion Bill had only minutes previously.

"That rerouting code was inputted by me," Chloe told her.

"But that's-"

"Impossible. I know," Chloe muttered.

Over the top of her head, the rest of the team exchanged worried glances. "Then does this mean what I think it means?" Curtis said finally.

"That CTU has been hacked?" Chloe looked up at him and nodded. "Yes. I think we can safely say it's a probability."

"More than a probability," Tony mused. "Someone must have put that code in from in here."

"Not necessarily…" Chloe trailed off; she was beginning to get annoyed and felt claustrophobic with the rest of them crowding over her. "Shouldn't someone be briefing Jack?" she asked pointedly, changing the subject. She could work much better when she wasn't under constant scrutiny.

"Yes, I'm on my way to do it now," Bill replied, stepping away. "I should only be a few minutes." He sighed. "With a bit of luck, we can get this Rebecca Anderson in custody and bring her back here before Mark Russell rings again."

"I guess we'll just be waiting for the phone to ring." Tony sounded tired.

"I'm going to make a coffee, does anyone want one?" asked Curtis, anxious for something to do.

Tony nodded, and got up to help. As they disappeared up the stairs, Michelle sat down once more beside Chloe.

"You say a code was inputted onto the system?"

Chloe scowled. "Looks that way, yes."

"And Tony said it may have originated from within CTU…."

"It might have. Why?" Michelle's vagueness was starting to grate on Chloe's already frayed nerves.

"Oh, nothing." Michelle began to check her emails. "Nothing, really."

Shaking her head in frustration, Chloe set about working on a more advanced trace for the origin of the code, only to be interrupted by the far too familiar sound of heels clacking on the tiled floor.

"Chloe, can I speak with you?" Audrey's voice was like spun sugar.

"Is it important? Only I'm trying to run a trace on something," Chloe muttered.

"Yes, it is important." Audrey smiled down at the analyst, using her height to her advantage. "It will only take a minute. Michelle can watch the phone, can't you?"

Michelle didn't even bother acknowledging the other woman's words.

Chloe sighed, stood up. "Okay, fine."

She followed Audrey across the bullpen and into the rarely used back corridors of the building.

"Audrey, where are we going?"

The blonde didn't answer immediately, coming to a halt just past the medical wing. She took a moment to compose herself, and Chloe wondered if she was going to ask her advice on her relationship problems with Jack. Frantically, she tried to think of an excuse to get back to her station, when Audrey opened her mouth and began a tirade of abuse.

"You might have fooled them but you don't fool me, Chloe," she said acidly. Before Chloe could respond, Audrey took a step towards her, effectively backing her against the wall. "That little theory of yours. You stole it from me." Her voice was barely above a whisper, but dripping with hatred.

"I didn't steal anything from you. What are you talking about?" Chloe didn't move, not wanting to give Audrey the satisfaction.

"'_He'll want us to think it's the third, half way into the building, but that's too obvious._' Couldn't wait to get on the radio and tell Jack, could you?"

"That was common sense." Chloe could feel her temper rising. "I just worked it out faster than you."

"What are you suggesting, Chloe?" Another step forward.

"Nothing at all, Audrey." Chloe clenched her fists. "It's interesting though, isn't it? I'm curious, so tell me. How did you come up with that theory?"

"How _dare _you!"

Audrey raised her arm but was stopped by the sound of Jack's voice echoing down the hallway.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he asked, walking towards them. Audrey backed away, lowered her hand. Chloe remained where she was. His voice was calm, too calm. She knew he was seconds away from losing his temper.

"I was talking with Chloe," Audrey replied coolly. "I needed to make sure of something, that's all."

"You were going to hit her."

"I wasn't _actually _going to." Audrey laughed as though the idea was absurd. "Do you really think I would do that, Jack?" Gone was the malice, to be replaced by the sugar sweet tone Chloe recognised from earlier.

"I don't know, Audrey. That's what it looked like to me."

Chloe had no desire to be a spectator while they had another argument. "I'm just going to go back to my station," she said quietly, taking a step away from them.

"Oh, please." Audrey smoothed down her skirt. "I don't have time for this right now, and nor do you, Jack. Don't you have a suspect to apprehend? I have phone calls to make." As she moved past Jack, she laid a hand on his arm, letting it linger for longer than necessary, all the while keeping her eyes focussed on Chloe. "Be careful out there, Jack."

Her heels soon receded from earshot. Chloe had not moved any further than a few steps away from Jack, and was now very aware of the fact that she needed to get back to her station before her eyes betrayed her.

"Are you alright?" he asked in a low voice, a voice that almost took the breath from Chloe's throat with its gentleness.

"I'm fine, Jack." Chloe looked down at her feet. "You really ought to get going. Has Mr Buchanan briefed you?"

Jack nodded. "Yes. I'm going. I just… She didn't hurt you, did she?"

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Please, Jack. Just go. I'm fine, if a little tired. Go and get this suspect and then maybe we can catch Russell."

He smiled. "Okay." He turned and began walking down the hallway, vowing to speak with Audrey upon his return.

…

No sooner had Bill returned to the floor than the phone rang. Snatching it up, he all but shouted into the receiver, indicating to Curtis to run a trace.

The call was brief, and upon hanging up, Bill turned to face the rest of his small team, his face ashen.

"Tony, I need you to prepare a team." His words were calm but urgent. "He's targeting the local hospital. Within the next two hours."


	9. Chapter 8

_**Mutual Purposes- Chapter Eight**_

The roads were all but deserted as Jack drove through the quiet downtown neighbourhood where Rebecca Anderson was currently residing. He had the watch in his pocket; the metal cold despite the heat of his body. As he turned into the street, he found himself wondering what kind of person he was going to encounter on the other side of the door. Having rejected Bill's offer of back up, Jack weighed up the possibilities in his head, coming to the conclusion that it was unlikely he would have to use force.

Rebecca was just one in a long list of 'associates' listed on Mark Russell's profile. Relatively happy in his marriage, the divorce had shocked a lot of people at CTU, and it seemed as though he'd simply stopped caring. The details stated that he had been in contact with this woman as little as a month ago; while not seen together, his phone logs suggested frequent calls, mostly him to her. Jack suspected that this was not a romantic relationship; rather she had something he wanted, and she agreed to help as long as there was something in it for her. This meant that he or Tony may well have inadvertently met this woman sometime in the past.

He idled outside the one storey building for several minutes, pondering this, but nothing came to mind. He debated whether or not to call Tony and ask his opinion, but decided against it. They'd lost enough time as it was.

Jack parked a little way down from the house, just behind a cluster of hedges lining the opposite end of the road from which he'd approached. Locking the car, he discreetly withdrew his weapon and began walking back up the street. All the other houses were in darkness; their occupants having retired to bed. Not Rebecca Anderson. Almost every light in the place was on, including the porch light. Immediately suspicious, Jack quickened his pace, concerned that Russell may have already got to her.

It was the footsteps to his right that gave them away. Freezing, Jack turned on the spot to find himself face to face with a masked and very much armed assailant. Pulling his bluff, Jack went to surrender his weapon, only to pause midair to deliver a shot to his would-be attacker.

Across the road, lights began appearing in windows. Jack hid himself at the side of the house, keeping a low profile until he reached the back door. This too was guarded, but before he could fire his gun, he felt something hard hit him over the back of his head.

…

Tony waited impatiently in the main reception area of the hospital, as the receptionist ran off to find one of the on call doctors. His radio was crackling, and attracting wary stares from the bedraggled looking people loitering in the waiting room.

"Agent Almeida?"

Tony looked up gratefully to see a tall man with thinning dark hair striding down the corridor, his white coat flapping behind him. "Doctor Thornton," Tony greeted, briefly shaking the man's hand. He noted with sympathy how harassed the man looked, and regretted having to tell him that his evening was about to become much worse.

"Anita here tells me you need to speak with me as a matter of urgency. How can I help you?"

"Can we walk and talk?"

"Sure." The medic fell into step beside Tony and led him away from the keen ears of the waiting patients. "How can I help you? Where did you say you were from again?"

"Counter Terrorist Unit."

"Terrorist?"

"Yes. Look, Doctor, we have reason to believe a bomb is to be detonated in this hospital in a little under two hours." Tony saw the older man's face blanch considerably. "As it is, we have no idea where it is, and cannot conduct a search while the place is full of patients."

"Mr Almeida… with all due respect, I cannot simply move these people. A lot of them are critically ill. How valid is your information?"

"Extremely."

He could see the doctor considering his options. "I'm assuming you haven't come alone?"

"I have two teams of men outside, a bomb squad, and another three teams on standby," Tony replied, reaching for his radio. "I understand how frightening this is. But I need you on board here. My men need to conduct a search of the building. I need you to mobilise your people and start an evacuation of the hospital. Can you do that for me?"

The doctor nodded mutely.

"CTU, this is Almeida. I'm about to start the evacuation… copy that." He looked back towards his companion. "I'm no expert, but I would suggest you focus now on those patients who are going to need support whilst out of the hospital."

"What do I tell my staff?" asked Thornton, reaching into his coat pocket and pulling out his own two way, no doubt linked to his security team positioned throughout the building.

"Under no circumstances do the patients need to know. We must not have a panic. Tell whoever you need to tell," Tony advised. "Those you trust not to start alarming the patients."

"You got it."

Tony hurried back towards the main reception area, pausing to size up the differing states of the people waiting there. All of them were able to walk, and by no means in immediate need of medical attention. Grabbing the arm of a young nurse walking by, he hurriedly whispered to her to clear the waiting area, the look in his eyes leaving no room for argument.

…

He'd been kicked, of that much he was certain. And his head hurt. He seemed to be inside the house; although how he'd gotten there he didn't know. Groggily, Jack opened his eyes, only to be confronted by more darkness that stretched on as far as he could see. Something sticky was coating the side of his face. He tried to move his hand to reach up and find out what it was, but he found his arms were bound. Slowly, his mind processed the fact that he was sitting propped up against a wall, and the substance on his face was nothing more than his own blood. The watch was gone; its coolness against his skin now replaced by the heat from what was most likely another wound.

He felt sick. Swallowing down the bile that was quickly rising in his throat, Jack shifted until he could work on the knots binding his wrists together. The silence around him meant that he was alone. There was no uncertainty in his mind as to who was behind the attack.

As before, the bonds were only loosely tied. He freed himself in under a minute, despite his injuries. He realised that it hurt to breathe. Pushing himself into a standing position, he wondered absently if he had a few broken ribs.

It took Jack a few minutes to navigate his bearings, heading for a light switch only to discover it wasn't working. He muttered under his breath, rummaging in his jeans pocket for his cell which had miraculously escaped unscathed.

Chloe answered after the second ring. "CTU, O'Brian."

"Chloe?" Jack's voice was hoarse, sending immediate panic signals to Chloe's brain.

"Yeah, Jack. What's happened?"

"I need you to send a team to my location." He leant against the wall for support. "I need to conduct a search and the power's gone. Send Tony if you can."

There was a pause on Chloe's end. "Um, Jack? Tony's not here. Mark Russell called in the minute you left."

"Damn it. Fine. Send someone else." He winced at the harshness of his words. "Chloe, I'm sorry. Can you tell me where Tony is?"

"There's a threat against the local hospital," she replied quietly. "Jack, will you please tell me what's happened?" Her voice suddenly dropped, as she turned towards Michelle and asked her to send a team out.

"This was a set up," Jack muttered. "I'm fine, Chloe. I just need that team here."

"They're on their way." He could tell she wasn't convinced by his words. "Y-you're not hurt, are you? What about Rebecca?"

Jack should have known he wouldn't be able to hide from her. "There was no Rebecca. Russell, or at least some of his men, was waiting here for me. They've taken the watch. I… I'm fine, Clo. Really. Please don't worry about me." He softened his tone. "I'm going to head over to the hospital and help Tony."

She wanted to argue with him, wanted to tell him to come back and have his injuries checked out. She knew he was hurt; she could hear it in his voice.

"Okay, Jack. Call in as soon as you get there."

He hung up and slid to the floor, his cell phone falling out of his hand and disappearing into the inky blackness.

…

"Tony, speak to me, what's going on?"

"We've evacuated the high dependency patients." Tony's voice was tinny and Bill had to strain to hear it. "The doctors have been great. We've been able to conduct a search of the utility rooms, staff areas et cetera but so far nothing has come up. We're unable to do anything more at the moment."

"Have the patients been told?"

"I think some of them have worked out what's going on." There was a sigh. "We had a situation but it was dealt with."

"Okay. Excellent. Jack's going to be joining you; he should be there in approximately ten minutes."

"Jack?"

"No time to go into details, Tony. The Rebecca Anderson lead didn't work out," Bill replied quietly. "No need to relay this to the rest of the team," he added.

"Copy that, Bill. I'll call back soon."

The Director removed his headset and placed it back on the desk. "I want this day to be over," he muttered to Michelle. Chloe was sat nearby, chewing anxiously on her nails.

"You and me both. Has Audrey turned up anything new on the compromising of the DOD's systems?"

"No. She's making phone calls, working on it. I have every faith that she will find out who it is behind it and deal with them accordingly."

Michelle nodded, stifling a yawn. Catching sight of Chloe's obvious worry, she edged her seat a little closer to the analyst and offered a smile. "What's wrong, Chloe?"

"We were set up again." She clenched her small fists. "Mr Buchanan, Rebecca Anderson was never going to be at this address. Don't you see? Mark Russell's got someone on the inside; he knew we would be sending someone over there. Maybe he even wanted us to send someone there."

"Chloe, what are you saying?"

She backed away from the screen so that Bill and Michelle could clearly see Mark Russell's file.

"This has been altered," she said quietly. To Michelle, she added, "It's the same code Tony spotted earlier, on the breakdown report."

"Someone inside CTU is leaking intel," Michelle said quietly, not at all incredulous. "This has to be linked to the DOD situation."

"It's not just that, though. Look." Chloe typed away for a few minutes, until a list of scrambled codes appeared before her. "It's saying that I did it. Just like before."

"Have all the machines been affected? Can you check?" Bill glanced towards the nearest computers as though the answer would be emblazoned across their screens.

"No need, Mr Buchanan. This is affecting me only. Any computer I log into; it doesn't matter if it's the comm. station or not. Someone has got hold of my log in details."

Curtis reached for his phone. "What level clearance do you have? I can have your details reset temporarily while we look into it."

"Six, and that won't work."

"Why not?" demanded Bill.

"There is likely to be an automatic override in place," Chloe replied, twisting her fingers in her lap, her eyes downcast to the floor. "I think I need to go and sit quietly for a minute."

Michelle stood up. "Of course. I'll sit with you if you like? Or would you rather be alone?"

She smiled tiredly, sadly. "Alone, if that's alright. Oh, and could you call me when Jack arrives at the hospital?"

"Will do."

Chloe walked away. Everything ached; she wanted so much to see Jack walking through the main doors of the building, unharmed. The thoughts inside her head wouldn't leave her alone; whoever was hurting Jack, was making it look like she, Chloe O'Brian, was behind it.

…

"Jack, what the hell happened?" Tony broke away from the rest of his team and walked quickly towards the other agent, alarmed by the bruising and blood marring Jack's face. He put a hand out to steady him. "You shouldn't be here. Go back to CTU."

Jack shook his head, wincing at the movement. "I'm fine, Tony. We need to get this over with. How near are we to having the hospital fully evacuated?"

His tone was one Tony recognised well; he was in pain, but he wasn't going to let it interfere with the mission. Sighing, Tony led him back over to the main hospital entrance.

"Almost cleared. Had a few… incidents." He indicated to his left where Jack could see a small handful of people in handcuffs, being guarded by an extremely tired looking younger agent. "But nothing serious. The sooner we get this damn thing- Doctor Thornton! What's happening? Are you clear yet?"

Jack looked up to see what appeared to be the most senior doctor on call that night approaching them. They nodded at each other briefly, neither needing introductions.

"It's all yours, Mr Almeida. Please," he lowered his voice, "please find it in time."

Tony nodded. "We'll do our best. Okay, everyone, we are go!" He turned and motioned for the back up teams to follow him inside. "Doctor Thornton, thank you." He and Jack moved away and strode purposefully into the now eerily calm building.

"We've got about an hour until it goes off," Tony announced, once the teams were assembled in the front area. The bomb squad shuffled in behind them, weighed down by equipment. "We need to work fast, and there is absolutely no room for error."

"The staff areas have been checked; nothing," he explained to Jack as the men began spreading out. Jack was struggling to keep up with his friend as they climbed the stairs towards the intensive care unit, but didn't dare let on. He knew Tony could tell he was in a bad way, but it didn't need broadcasting to the rest of the team.

"Rebecca was never there; Russell had some men waiting for me," Jack informed him as they climbed the stairs.

"He knew we were sending someone, moved her out of the way?"

"No. I think it was a plan. I think… the address was deliberately put in his file and he knew someone would be going there; he _wanted _someone to go there. More to the point, he knew it was going to be either me or you."

"For God's sake, do you mean we're dealing with a leak?"

"Sure looks that way."

Tony frowned, remembering the suspicious code that had arisen on Chloe's system that afternoon. Before he could voice his thoughts, both men heard the very distinct sound of beeping coming from up ahead.

"Do we think that's it?" Tony muttered.

"Radio the bomb squad," Jack replied quietly.

As Tony did so, Jack took a few steps away, creeping further towards the noise. A door on the left hand side of the corridor was ajar, in contrast to those firmly locked either side of it.

"Jack, don't go in, wait for them."

He wasn't listening. Tony's voice was far away, despite being only feet behind him. Pushing the door fully open, Jack squinted against the glaring overhead lights.

The bomb was sitting quietly on an unmade bed, its timer clearly visible.

"There's no time to disarm it, get everyone out!" Jack shouted, his eyes strangely fixated by the red digits counting down: _00.45, 00.44, 00.43…_

Suddenly, time went into slow motion, the sound of Tony's shouting distorted as it echoed off the walls and down the stairs. Jack could hear his own name being called; Tony wouldn't leave without him.

And then he moved. He was out the door and he and Tony were running for the stairs. But Tony made it first; he was quicker. A sudden noise ripped through the white washed halls, and everything went dark. 

…

Audrey was pacing the main floor, shouting into her cell phone and throwing murderous looks at anyone who dared to walk past her.

"What's the matter with her?" Curtis muttered.

"Someone probably screwed up and she's taking their head off for it," Chloe replied, shocked at the bitterness in her words. She saw Curtis frown, but he said nothing.

"Okay, Tony. I'll have medical on standby. Keep a team there to help with the clear up and get back here as soon as you can." Bill's voice sounded from directly behind Chloe. Pocketing his cell phone, he faced the remaining members of his team. "The bomb went off. Luckily, it was contained to a few rooms; it wasn't extremely powerful. It took out some expensive equipment, which we will look into replacing. However." He regarded them seriously. "Jack was caught in the blast. Tony's bringing him in now. What with already having been targeted at the Anderson address, I don't need to tell you that he's not in good shape."

Michelle's hand flew to her mouth. Curtis stared blankly at his feet. Even Audrey stopped pacing.

"Jack's been injured?" she whispered, her phone lying forgotten on her desk as she walked towards them.

Bill nodded gravely. "Yes. We don't know how serious it is until he gets here, but we can assume it's bad. I have a team on standby." He placed a hand on Audrey's arm. "Would you like to go and meet him when he arrives?"

Audrey nodded, a tear sliding down her cheek. Her shoulders began shaking gently, and Bill hugged her awkwardly. "Come on, I'll take you."

"Are you going to meet Tony?" Curtis asked Michelle, recovering enough to find his voice.

The brunette shook her head. "No. I'll wait here."

Chloe sat numbly, barely registering what was going on around her. _If only I'd persuaded him to come back…_

Without knowing what she was doing, she got to her feet and began walking towards the stairs, willing herself not to give in to the tears. He _had _to be okay. He just had to be. She didn't know what she would do if-

The door to his office was unlocked. As Chloe slipped inside, she could smell the remnants of Audrey's perfume, causing her vision to blur further. The desk chair was pulled back, as though he had left it in a rush.

Teri's photograph caught Chloe's eye as she stared around the room, and it suddenly all became clear to her. She knew why that photo was there. She cursed herself for not having realised it sooner, although deep down, she'd always known what his driving force was.

Slowly, she stepped over to the careworn couch and sat down, curling herself into a ball and shaking uncontrollably.

…

She must have fallen asleep, for the next thing Chloe realised she was being coaxed awake; a hand was on her arm and someone… was it Jack?... was murmuring soothing words into her ear.

"Chloe… Chloe, it's Michelle. You fell asleep."

Chloe blinked as Michelle's concerned face came into focus. "W-where's Jack?" she asked, before her brain could kick in and stop her mouth from speaking.

"He's in medical. Looks as though he's going to be okay." Michelle smiled. "You've been up here for about two hours."

"What time is it?" Chloe struggled to sit up, declining Michelle's offer of help.

"Three thirty."

"Oh, God… I need to… I have to get back to the floor."

"Nothing's happened, Chloe. Bill sent Curtis home; Tony and I are just leaving. He wants us all to get some rest but we'll be on standby." She took Chloe's arm and steadied her as she got uneasily to her feet.

"We can't go home." Chloe stared at her as though she was mad. "I have to get back, work out who is trying to corrupt my system-"

"You're in no state to be doing that." Bill stepped into the room. "Chloe, go home. Sleep. Michelle, can you take her to get her things?"

"Don't talk about me like I'm not here, Mr Buchanan."

"You're going home, Chloe."

"I-"

She was too tired to argue, and he knew it. Sighing, Bill turned and walked back to his own office, holding the door open behind him.

"Please, Michelle. You and Tony go; I need to finish something." She stepped away from the other woman as they reached the foot of the stairs. "I'll be fine, really." She noted that Michelle had not questioned her having been in Jack's office. As they hugged goodnight, Chloe wondered if she was simply too tactful not to say anything, or hadn't worked it out. From the sad smile she offered as she walked away, Chloe knew it was the former.

…

Tony drove them home in grim silence, worry still etched into his face, mingling with the tiredness that had been threatening to overwhelm him since the bomb blast. He cast a sideways glance at his wife, who was fighting to stay awake in the passenger seat. She wore an expression that told Tony something was bothering her.

"What is it?" he asked, coming to a stop at a red light.

Michelle yawned. "Nothing, honey. I'm just tired." She paused, hating to lie to him but not knowing how to voice her concerns. "Well, actually… it's Audrey."

"Audrey?" Tony inched the car forward. "Damn it, I forgot to go check on her before we left. Do you think she's okay?"

"I saw her; she said she was going to stay with Jack a little while longer."

"She must be cut up. He was in a bad state when he came in." He took a deep breath. "Gave me a shock, Michelle. I thought…"

She laid a hand on his arm. "I know. It's what we all thought."

He turned into their neighbourhood and began weaving in and out of the cars parked either side of the road. "You disappeared just now, right before we left. What happened? I saw you talking to Chloe."

"Bill wanted me to make sure Chloe got home okay," Michelle replied. "She'd fallen asleep in the break room."

"Someone's playing games with her," Tony muttered darkly. "No wonder she's wiped."

"That's what I was going to talk to you about."

"Oh? What does Audrey have to do with that?"

Michelle took a moment before responding. "You know you saw that code on Chloe's system?"

Tony nodded.

"I think Audrey has something to do with it." She proceeded to tell him about the hushed phone calls she had overheard, the comments that had been made about being followed around CTU, and the fact that Audrey appeared to have gained access to a locked holding room without Bill knowing.

"She told whoever was on the phone that she'd put the code into the computer like they'd asked, and then asked them if they would be able to get hold of the intel they needed."

Silence filled the car as Tony mulled over the conversation. "Perhaps she was talking to someone at DOD, and had to put a code in the computers to monitor all our information. They have the authority to do it." He didn't sound as though he believed what he was saying.

"But think about it," Michelle pressed. "Only Chloe's system has been affected."

"Why would Audrey want to implicate Chloe?"

She didn't answer. She cast her mind back to the moment in Jack's office, when she'd found Chloe huddled on the couch, tear tracks clearly visible on her cheeks.

"Do you think it's related to the compromising of the Department of Defence?"

"If it is, it means that Audrey would be responsible for the block put on yours and Jack's files, and the alterations made to them."

"It makes no sense, honey." Tony pulled the car into their driveway and shut off the engine. Seeing the look of defeat fall across Michelle's features, he offered her a tired smile. "But, if you think it's worth following up, then I'm right behind you on it."


	10. Chapter 9

_**Mutual Purposes- Chapter Nine**_

"Let me see him." Audrey didn't waste time with niceties. The lateness of the hour, and the conflicting voices in her head had left her so tired that she was at the point of questioning her own motives. She'd not heard from Mark since the bomb explosion, and that worried her. Too late, she realised that she should have demanded to be made privy to his decisions; choosing to stay out of sight simply wasn't working. All she'd succeeded in doing was putting everyone's backs up and the guilt was gently beginning to gnaw away at her conscience.

The CTU doctor, herself having worked fifteen hours straight, was in no mood for the other woman's attitude. Firmly positioning herself in the doorway to the medical wing, she shook her head. "No, Ms. Raines. Jack has been through a lot today and he needs to rest."

"I'm his girlfriend," she hissed. Lowering her voice, she allowed a tear to slide down her cheek. "Don't you think I have the right to see him? I almost lost him." The tears weren't completely for show; she felt as though a dam would burst inside her at any moment if the medic didn't move out of the way.

Audrey could see the effect her words were having; the shorter woman was backing down. Unfolding her arms, she stood back a little and allowed Audrey to take a glance inside the curtained room, where Jack lay sleeping on one of the three metal beds, the sheets tangled around him.

"Five minutes, Ms. Raines. I'll be waiting out here."

"Thank you, Doctor."

Audrey stepped past and into the large room. The surgical white of the walls accentuated the harsh steel of the medical equipment, and she shuddered, thinking of what might have been if Tony hadn't been there to pull him back…

"Jack?"

He was asleep; she could clearly see that. She'd hoped that his presence would be a soothing balm on her mind, but in fact it was only serving to highlight the seriousness of what she had done. Pulling up the small blue chair hidden next to the bed opposite, Audrey sat down and closed her eyes momentarily.

Bill had asked her if she wanted to go home. She'd told him that she would, as soon as she knew Jack was okay; she had to put her mind at rest. Of course he'd understood. She'd never had much time for Bill Buchanan. They worked together and spoke civilly to each other, but she suspected deep down that her position in politics, not to mention that of her father's, was something of a bone of contention for him. Perhaps he wanted the job himself? She'd often thought that.

As she sat, she started to become irritated. The ringing of her cell phone came as a blessed relief, and she answered quickly. "Audrey Raines."

"Missed me, did you?"

She stood up and walked towards the door, anxious that the doctor not walk in and disturb her. "You got what you wanted."

"He's hurt, is he? I never meant for that to happen."

"He got caught in the bomb blast. Tony had to bring him back to medical, barely conscious." She silently cursed herself as she heard her voice catch in her throat.

"Sorry about that. Minor….hitch. Let's say we put it behind us. I need to talk to you about this analyst."

And suddenly Audrey remembered why she was a part of it.

"What about her?"

"There seems to be a problem. She knows someone's hacked into her system."

"How can you tell?" Audrey saw the doctor approaching, and willed Mark to hurry up.

"Because she's put on a tracking device to work out where the loop has come from," he explained, as though he was talking to a three year old who couldn't work out a jigsaw puzzle. "Audrey, you don't need to worry yourself with the technical side of this. Just tell me again why I'm doing this for you?"

She paused as the door started to swing open. Voices started up only metres away from her, and suddenly the doctor was gone, rushing away to tend to another emergency.

"Because I don't like her."

"That's a very good reason; why didn't I think of that?" He was laughing at her, and she knew it. "Fine, I don't want to know. I was just curious. It must have something to do with Jack, otherwise you and I wouldn't be talking to each other, right?"

"Yes."

"Okay, we'll leave it at that. But now it's time for you to do something."

"What?"

"She needs to be removed."

Audrey blanched, sinking once again into the cold plastic chair. "Removed? What are you asking me to do? You never said-"

"I'm not asking you to kill her, Audrey. You want to hurt Jack? Good. So do I. Work it out."

"I'll see what I can do," she muttered, slightly relieved when she saw that Jack was beginning to wake up. "I'll call you later."

"Oh, I look forward to it."

She hastily snapped the phone shut, her mind reeling. "Jack… it's me," she murmured, dropping her voice to what she hoped was a gentle tone. "You scared me."

He blinked at her. "Audrey?"

"Yes, honey, it's me." She gripped his hand. "I'm right here."

To her horror he pulled away from her. She made no move to help him as he struggled to sit up. "There was a bomb blast," she began, feigning indifference in the face of his rejection.

"I know."

A silence fell between them. Audrey knew she'd had much more than her designated five minutes, but made no move to leave.

"Bill has sent everyone home." His lack of responsiveness unnerved her. She spoke only to fill the gap, sensing that he wanted to talk to her about something and knowing exactly what it was.

"What happened between you and Chloe?" he asked, not paying attention to her words. He wanted her to leave; every part of him ached and she was doing little to help him.

"For God's sake, Jack! Can't you leave that? I told you before; it's fine."

"You raised your hand to her."

She managed a bitter laugh. "If you had stepped around the corner only minutes earlier you would have seen that she had her hand raised to me." Audrey watched Jack's face for a reaction, but there was none.

"I think you'd better go."

Audrey stood once more, hands on her hips. "We need to talk about this! You said so yourself."

"About Chloe? What does she have to do with the problems you and I are having?"

"She _is _the problem," she muttered, not loud enough for him to hear. They were interrupted heavy footsteps. Moments later, the tired face of the doctor appeared in the doorway. "I think you'd better leave, Ms. Raines."

Audrey looked towards Jack, but he shook his head. "Just go."

"You've had much longer than the five minutes I said."

"Yes, I heard you." Audrey gathered her purse from the floor. Hating to ask her next question but knowing she needed to, she turned to Jack and said, "Are you coming home tonight?"

"Jack is not well enough to leave here-"

"No." Jack's word cast a sense of finality over the room. The two women regarded each other with distaste, before Audrey turned and glided elegantly from the room.

…

Bill watched as Chloe detached herself from Michelle and resumed her seat at the comm. station. Michelle glanced up and waved, a resigned smile on her face. Bill returned the gesture, wishing that he too could head home for a few hours and freshen up. Regardless of the fact that Russell had gone quiet, Bill's presence was required at the hub. There would be no leaving the building until the whole situation was at an end.

He had half a mind to phone Chloe and demand that she go home, but he knew he was wasting his time. It was he who had discovered her asleep in Jack's office. Seeing the door open, he'd moved to close it, freezing when he saw her small figure curled up on the sofa. Michelle had asked no questions when he'd requested her help in waking the sleeping Chloe; Bill himself was still trying to work out the answers, although he was pretty certain of her motives for wanting to be in Jack's office.

A knock at his door brought him back to the present. A quick glance at his watch told him he'd been sat in his office for fifteen minutes. He only hoped the rest of the day, however long it transpired to be, passed as quickly.

"Bill, I know this is hardly the time, but I have some information regarding the hacking of my systems." Audrey seemingly glided into the room. Bill couldn't help but notice the angry pink of her cheeks, and sighed inwardly. An argument was the last thing Jack needed.

Bill removed his glasses and turned to face Audrey. "Go ahead. This is important, especially if it concerns my systems, too."

"Oh, it does. There is a definite… human… link between the two."

"Human link?"

"As in the same person who hacked into the DOD may well hack into CTU. They certainly have the means to do it." She dropped her voice. "May I sit down?"

He gestured wearily to the chair in front of him. "Please do."

"I'll get right to it." Audrey paused dramatically, pushing her glasses back up her nose. "One of your agents was responsible… they hacked into the Department of Defence's server."

His eyes widened. "My agents? How? No one has been to D.C-"

"It was carried out internally, that is to say, from within CTU. So you understand what I mean by this person having the means to get into CTU's systems? Countless amounts of information could have been leaked," she added, folding her arms.

"This means that they were behind the altering of the files." Bill put a hand to his temple, the idea of one of his own deliberately endangering an operation bringing on a headache that had been threatening all day.

Audrey nodded. "I notice you haven't asked who it is."

"Ms Raines… Audrey, I appreciate you coming to me with this, but are you sure?"

"I had my best people on it."

He sighed resignedly. "It's one of my team, isn't it? That's why you aren't telling me."

Audrey stepped forward and placed a hand on his arm. "Bill, believe me, I know this is a difficult thing to get your head around." She paused. "Yes, it is one of your team. If I had felt it could wait, I wouldn't have brought it to you so soon after the second bomb was detonated. As it is, I think she should be removed from play, to ensure the rest of this mission goes down as planned."

… 

Her apartment was as she had left it that morning: untidy, cold, and unwelcoming. Even the glare of the artificial lights did little to disturb the mood that had fallen over the small dwelling. Chloe couldn't remember it having been in this state the previous day; she assumed that the trauma of the past few hours had caused her to see things with tainted eyes.

Cell phone and pager switched on but abandoned on the bedside table, Chloe escaped into the bathroom and took a long shower. Closing her eyes only brought her images of Audrey's face, staring back at her in such contempt that she had to grip the shower door to stop herself from falling. Instead they remained open, stung but not soothed by the scalding water.

As she changed into slightly more comfortable clothes, she checked her phone for any missed calls. She felt a mixture of relief and apprehension upon finding there were none. Having no intention of going to bed, Chloe booted up her laptop and took it into the lounge.

Her mind wandered before she could stop it.

She hoped Jack was okay. Knowing him as well as she did, she knew he wouldn't have stayed in medical for very long; simply long enough to humour Bill and the doctor. Had he gone home to Audrey? Chloe pushed that thought to the back of her mind, forced herself to concentrate on the screen in front of her.

The buzzer sounded from in the hallway. It took Chloe a few minutes to realise that someone was demanding entrance to the building. No doubt a late night caller for the group of rowdy teens who had moved in down the hall. It wouldn't be the first time someone had pressed the wrong button.

She got wearily to her feet and made her way to the small machine.

"Yes?" Angry remarks jostled for position on the tip of her tongue.

"Chloe?"

His voice was muffled but there was no mistaking it. The velvet huskiness was thickened by sleep, and she could sense that he was still in a lot of pain.

From somewhere she found her voice, found herself telling him to come straight up; the door would be on the latch.

In the five minutes it took him to reach her front door, Chloe scrambled around the lounge, trying to make it look at least tidy, at most inhabitable. The laptop was shunted back into her bedroom, mugs of day old coffee thrown sloppily into the sink, which was then covered by an old teacloth. She was just picking up a pile of magazines when the door opened.

One look told her she'd been right; the pain was evident in his eyes.

For want of something better to say, but not having the social skills to know what that something was, Chloe managed a small, "Hey."

"Hey." He didn't smile. She could see stitches above his right eye, a nasty cut running almost the length of his left arm. He was clutching at his chest but didn't take his eyes from her.

"Um, come in. Do you want a drink?"

"No, it's alright."

She wanted to tell him to go back to medical, or even a hospital, but the rational part of her mind, the part that always seemed to overrule the underlying feelings she had for him, told her that he probably wouldn't appreciate her concern. Chloe followed him into the lounge, not thinking as she took his arm and helped him sit down. His eyes, so blue yet marred by exhaustion, smiled up at her, and she felt immediately at ease.

"I wanted to see you… after… Bill sent you all home and I wanted to make sure you were okay."

"So you'll be going to check in on Tony, Michelle and Curtis, too?"

Jack laughed as much as his bruised ribs would allow him to. "No, just you."

"I'll be back in a few hours, Jack," she muttered, fidgeting under his gaze. "Mr Buchanan put us on stand by; I think Mark might ring in soon." She hadn't told him any more about the code, about the fact that her systems had been compromised or that she was being set up. Nor did she intend to. He had enough pain, enough of a burden to carry without her adding to it. "Shouldn't you be with Audrey?"

"I went home alone."

"You shouldn't even be out of medical." She'd said it before she could stop herself.

"Probably not." He paused. "I had to see you."

"You discharged yourself and drove all the way across town, after being involved in a bomb blast, just to see me?" Chloe stood, needing distance, trying to convince herself that her words had no element of truth in them. Not for the first time her fingers went to her wrist, to absently pull at the expensive metal that should have been there. Not for the first time did her fingers meet bare skin, and she frowned. Her one greatest extravagance, bought on a whim, had disappeared the one and only day she'd worn it to work.

Jack sat watching her as she fussed about, tidying things that were already meticulously neat. "Chloe, please, sit down."

But she couldn't. She had her back to him so he couldn't see the tears falling freely down her cheeks. She found momentary comfort in the picking up and setting down of books she'd never read, swiping angrily at her eyes with dusty hands. Only after having righted the last cluttered surface did Chloe resume her seat on the arm of the couch.

Minutes that felt like hours and seconds all at once sped past. Jack got unsteadily to his feet and announced that he'd better go. Chloe shook herself out of her daze and stood up to help him.

"You won't be back at CTU in the morning, will you?"

He nodded. "Yes. Despite Bill's orders, I'm coming in. I know Russell; even if I spend the day sat at a desk it will be better than nothing."

"I can't see you spending the day behind a desk," Chloe smiled.

"No, nor can I."

They lingered in the hallway, the front door slightly ajar. So many things lay between them, making it impossible for her to go to him and watch as he walked away into the night.

He moved as fast as his injured body would let him; in seconds she was in his arms, Before either of them had a chance to register what had happened, she felt his mouth crash down onto hers, his tongue demanding entrance which she willingly gave. He tried to back her up against the wall but couldn't, settling for tangling his hand in her hair and pulling her as close to him as his body allowed. She heard him groan, apparently in pain, and she pulled back. The anguish on his face almost took her breath away, the full force of what they had done hitting her square between the eyes.

"I'm sorry," she muttered, not meeting his eyes. "I shouldn't have… you're hurt… Audrey…"

His arms loosened their grip around her and he moved slowly away, the hurt and confusion clear on his face. Hurt because she'd seemingly pushed him away, confused because he didn't know if it was the right thing to do. Silently, Jack turned away from her and back towards the door, stopping only to smile sadly over his shoulder.

That was when the emotional part of her brain kicked in, and she found herself whispering his name. She didn't want him to leave, yet at the same time she knew it would be wrong if they allowed things to go any further. This small gesture was her way of letting him know that she cared; she held feelings for him that perhaps she shouldn't, but she felt them nonetheless.

As soon as he'd gone, Chloe leaned against the wall and took a deep breath. She'd almost lost him… twice… More than anything she wanted him to take her in his arms and tell her everything would be okay but she knew it couldn't happen. It wouldn't be okay. Not yet.

…

Tony reached out and snatched up the ringing cell phone. Michelle had disappeared into the kitchen to make them something to eat; neither of them wanted to get to comfortable lest Russell made his next move.

"Almeida."

"Tony? It's Bill…"

Within seconds Tony had hung up and was marching towards the kitchen. Michelle looked up in surprise. "What's happened?" she asked, grabbing her jacket from the back of a kitchen chair and abandoning the plates she'd only just taken from the cupboard. "Was that Bill?"

Tony grimaced. "Yes, it was, but it's not about Russell… it's Chloe."

"Chloe?"

"We need to get back to CTU." He glanced past his wife towards the small sliver of morning light coming in through the kitchen window. "Remember what you said about Audrey?"

Michelle nodded, anxious to get going.

"It looks as though you might have been right." Tony frowned. "I still don't like the idea any more than you, but… Chloe has been taken into custody for hacking into the Department of Defence."

Silently, Michelle slipped on her jacket. "Then let's go. I'll drive."

Tony didn't argue as they grabbed up their keys and walked quickly from house.

"I'm going to have to do some more research into this," Michelle muttered, putting the car into drive and pulling away into the stream of traffic. Despite the hour, the streets were soon starting to build up with early morning commuters. "I want to tell Bill but-"

"No, don't tell Bill. At least, not yet. Get something concrete first. If we start accusing Audrey of setting Chloe up it could lead to all sorts of problems."

She cast him a sideways glance. "So you're with me on this?"

"Of course I am. But not a word to Bill. Or Jack."

"I hope I'm not right," Michelle said quietly. "But the alternative, Chloe being a mole, it just doesn't make sense!"

Tony just shook his head and stared blankly at the road in front of them.

…

Curtis had already arrived by the time they made it out onto the floor. The three of them nodded briefly at each other before making their way up to Bill's office.

"Something isn't right about this," Curtis said. "I refuse to believe it. Especially after this code that was found on her system."

"You heard what she said though," Michelle pointed out, "that it has been made to look as though she put it on there herself."

"Do you think someone really is setting her up?" Curtis was incredulous. "Who would want to do it?"

Before either of them could answer, the door to Bill's office swung open and they were ushered inside. Audrey was perched, business-like, at the small table in the centre of the room. In front of her sat a laptop.

Bill went straight to the point. "Audrey has evidence on that laptop that links Chloe to the infiltration of the Department of Defence."

"Have you seen it?" Tony demanded.

"Yes, Tony, I have. I have had it checked by our second lead analyst and it's irrefutable." He paused, drew a deep breath. "I don't like this at all. I've taken Chloe out of play and for the time being I am going to have to ask you, Curtis, and Michelle, to run point on the remainder of this operation."

Michelle nodded mutely.

"I want to see this evidence." Tony moved towards Audrey and turned the computer screen so that it was facing him.

"What do you think you are doing? You have limited knowledge in this field; leave it to someone who does." Audrey rose to her full height and spoke in a clipped tone. Tony didn't spare her a look as he scrolled through the windows of information. Five agonising minutes passed, before he pushed the machine away in disgust. "It's crap. Chloe didn't do this, Bill, and you know it."

"The evidence-"

"Don't talk to me about evidence." The two men shared a look that separated them from the others present in the room. It was a direct challenge. "You know Chloe. She wouldn't do this."

The older man suddenly lost his patience. "Enough! Tony, I run this agency, not you. Get back downstairs and start looking for this son of a bitch." The look in his eyes told Tony that he didn't believe the allegations any more than he did. For now, that had to be enough.

As the door slid shut behind them, Bill faced Audrey. "I hope you know what you're doing."

She smiled. "Yes, I do. I know this is difficult, but it will be handled professionally."

Bill's mind flitted back to Tony's angry remarks; flashes of the previous afternoon ingrained themselves into the backs of his eyes. "Tony found a code, on Chloe's system."

Audrey shook her head. "Don't tell me. Tell my father when he gets here. Although I don't think that will stand; you said yourself she told you that the codes had come from her computer."

"It has to be looked into," he said darkly.

"It will. When my father arrives." Audrey stood gracefully and collected up her papers. "This is a DOD matter now, Bill. Leave it with me."

…

"His hands are tied," Tony muttered as the three of them turned and made their way back down to the bullpen. They paused before going the separate ways at the foot of the stairs. "He needs to make Audrey believe as though he's cooperating with her, but he's on side."

Michelle stared at him but said nothing.

"Who's going to tell Jack?" asked Curtis.

A strained silence fell between them. "I will," Tony said finally. "He's not going to like it."

Noise behind them alerted them to Jack's arrival. The double doors crashed open and he all but ran into the bullpen. "I tried calling you all but no-one was answering their cell," he shouted as he moved towards them. "What's going on? Why wasn't I called in?" His eyes narrowed as he scanned the faces before him, noting instantly that one was missing. "Where's Chloe?"

Tony placed a hand on his arm. "I have to talk to you."

The seriousness on his friend's face caused panic to crash over him like a cold wave. "What's happened? Is she hurt?"

"We'll be on comm.," Curtis spoke up. He and Michelle walked quietly away, Jack's eyes following them. "Why isn't she on comm.? Tony, damn it, tell me what's happened."

Tony all but dragged him out into the back corridors. "Why are you here, Jack? Bill didn't call you."

"I can't just sit at home, Tony. I rang you to ask if you had been called back in yet, and when I couldn't get an answer from you or Curtis I came straight here." He lowered his voice. "Just tell me what's happened to Chloe."

Tony's next words had Jack reaching towards the wall for support. "She's been taken into custody. They think she's the mole."


	11. Chapter 10

_**Mutual Purposes- Chapter Ten**_

Michelle slammed her fist down in frustration, causing a now cold mug of coffee to topple over onto the floor. She put her head in her hands, oblivious to Curtis as he grabbed some tissues and hastily mopped up the mess. "Another dead end," she muttered, her voice tinged with despair. Curtis threw the wet tissues into the nearest bin and turned to her. "Maybe we could both have a look?"

"One of us needs to remain focussed on Mark Russell."

Curtis stepped up behind Michelle and laid a hand on her shoulder. "Then let's do a swap."

Reluctantly, Michelle stood and traded seats, settling herself at the opposite end of the unit. "This guy's still playing games with us, Curtis. And now this."

"Do you think it might be related?"

She glanced briefly around her before answering. Quickly, she filled Curtis in on the phone calls she had overheard. "It makes no sense, but yes, I think the two are related."

Curtis stared. "Do you think Chloe knew Russell? Why would he want to hurt her?"

"Maybe he doesn't. He wants to get to Jack… Audrey knows that he and Chloe are close… perhaps she's hurting Chloe to get to Jack?" Michelle closed her eyes. "Oh, I don't know, Curtis. We need evidence and right now we just don't have any."

They sat in silence, each unwilling to believe the situation they now found themselves in. A series of beeps resounded from Curtis's computer, punctuating the already tense atmosphere. "Nothing… nothing," he muttered. "I've been back through all of Chloe's files but what Audrey said checks out." He faced Michelle. "What about the server? Although, it's probably already been looked at," he added despairingly.

"No, it's always worth going over it, just to make sure." She lowered her voice. "Pete isn't that thorough," she confided, referring to the second lead analyst after Chloe. "I know for a fact that he cuts corners."

Nodding, Curtis left his seat and began to make his way across the floor. "I've got my cell; call me if you hear from Russell," he told Michelle. Moving quickly, he passed by the designated DOD desk and out into the rear corridors. Shouting could be heard, familiar voices floating up from the holding rooms. Curtis paused for a second, his fists clenched in anger, before resuming his pace.

He found the doors to tech one already open. Mindful of Michelle's earlier encounter, he slowed down and drew his gun. Stepping quietly inside, he released the lock and waited until he heard the soft thud of the doors sealing themselves. Frantic typing from the corner of the room confirmed that he was indeed not alone.

The section of the server that he needed to work on was across the other side of the floor. If he moved, it meant he would have to walk past his unwanted co-worker, exposing not just them but himself. Curtis sighed. It was starting to get to him, that was all. It was most likely Pete, or one of the IT staff. Yes, that was it. Pleased to have convinced himself, Curtis replaced his weapon in its holster and walked briskly across the large room.

"You're not meant to leave the doors open," he called out, wanting whoever it was to identify themselves. When his words were met with silence, his earlier unease settled back around him like a shroud. Abandoning his computer, Curtis withdrew his weapon once more and walked towards the source of the noise.

A flash of blonde hair almost took his breath away, but he recovered himself in time to hide his gun from Audrey's view. "Audrey! I'm sorry, I didn't realise it was you in here." Curtis couldn't help but wonder if she simply hadn't heard him calling out; the idea that she was betraying Chloe was still to difficult for him to swallow. "Is everything okay?" He took in the tangle of wires at Audrey's feet. Elegantly, she sidestepped in front of them, blocking them from his view. "I was just setting up a station for my father; he'll be here soon and we need another computer to work from." She looked flushed, but whether it was from the oppressive heat of the tech room, or guilt, Curtis couldn't tell.

He averted his eyes from the wires and watched curiously as Audrey shut down the machine she had been using. Curtis recognised the familiar CTU eagle emblem as it faded from the screen. A series of numbers ran quickly before his eyes; he moved closer in order to get a better look, but his lack of technological training rendered the codes redundant.

Audrey stepped up beside him and frowned. "I haven't broken it, have I?"

Curtis shook himself out of his trance. "No, no, nothing like that." He managed a smile. "I guess it's just rebooting itself. Why don't you go wait for your father? I'll finish up in here; I've got some work I need to do myself."

He saw her hesitate, torn between her choices. She glanced around, as though to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything, and reluctantly stepped away from the wires. "Thank you, Curtis." She had almost made it to the door before she turned around; he thought for one second that she would come back but she remained where she was. "I'm sorry this is such a difficult time for you all." Her voice was serious, but not quite sincere. Bowing her head, Audrey made her way from the room.

Waiting until he was sure he was alone, Curtis pulled his cell phone from his pocket and dialled. "Michelle, it's me. I need you to come to tech one right away."

…

Jack didn't look up as Tony placed a cup of coffee before him. "Where's Bill?" he demanded.

"He's on the phone to Heller."

"Heller?"

Tony sighed. "Heller is taking control of this investigation, as it is a DOD matter. I don't like it any more than you," he added bitterly, watching as Jack's eyes flicked to the door. It had taken a lot of reasoning and physical force to get Jack up the stairs and into his office. Tony had stopped short at locking the door, but only just.

"When he was here earlier, he thought Chloe was a hindrance to this investigation," Jack muttered. "Turns out Audrey brought her to his attention; felt she was a 'security breach.'" He all but spat the words. "He's not going to be fair with her, Tony. Not if he was already concerned."

"It wasn't Heller who was concerned; it was Audrey," Tony reminded him. He cast his eyes to the ground, knowing how close he was to revealing Michelle's doubts. "She was out of line, and we all know that."

"Chloe didn't do this, Tony."

"I know that."

Jack stood up. "I have to talk to her."

"You can't. No one, not even Bill, can go in until Heller gets here." He rose to block his friend's path. "Let Bill at least try and sort this."

"There isn't enough time!" Jack tried to move past but found himself pushed back into his desk chair. Angered, he lunged at Tony, pushing him roughly against the wall. A short scuffle followed, stopping only when Tony grabbed hold of Jack's wrists and pinned them behind his back. Breathing heavily, and sporting a black eye, Jack struggled futilely for a few minutes, and then sagged against the wall in defeat. Slowly, Tony released his grip and stepped back, rubbing the bruise that was now slowly forming on his jaw.

"You need to calm down," he said, moving to the glass wall of the room and glancing down at the bullpen. To his alarm, the comm. unit had been abandoned. A quick look towards the main entrance told him that Heller had arrived; he only hoped Bill had been able to talk some sense into him.

"I need to go and see her, Tony." Jack's voice was quieter this time, but the conviction remained.

"You care about her, don't you." He didn't bother phrasing it as a question.

"Of course I do, damn it, she's a friend. I'd be just the same if it was you in there."

"I don't mean like that," Tony explained.

"Then what the hell _do _you mean?"

"I mean, Jack, that you have feelings for Chloe. I've not seen you this worked up, not in a long time." He lowered his voice. "I know you and Audrey are having problems-"

"This has nothing to do with Audrey."

"Okay, fine. But I'm your friend, Jack. I know you. You've told me about all this stuff with Audrey, and I've seen how you look at Chloe. I'm not blind," he added in his defence, seeing an angry glare spread across Jack's face. "Do you still love Audrey?"

All the fight had drained away, leaving Jack vulnerable and suddenly tired. "I don't think I do," he admitted finally. "We've not been right for a while now, ever since we came to Los Angeles."

"Washington's a whole other world, Jack. You weren't yourself out there; sitting behind a desk, taking orders. She fell in love with the man she met, but that wasn't the real you. You said yourself that she doesn't understand."

"I tried talking to her, like you said, but she wouldn't discuss it." He took a deep breath to steady himself. Although he hadn't openly admitted how he felt about Chloe, Tony didn't need him to elaborate; he could see it in his eyes.

…

"I didn't think we'd be seeing each other again so soon, Bill." Secretary Heller smiled his thanks towards the two Secret Service agents that had escorted him inside, motioning for them to take up position either side of the holding room door.

Bill stepped forward and shook the shorter man's hand briefly, before closing the door behind him. "Nor did I," he muttered.

"It seems Audrey's hunch paid off then?" Heller's tone was almost conversational, but it had an authoritative edge to it. "Don't worry, Bill. We'll get to the bottom of this. You'll be coming in with me, I take it?"

"Yes."

"You may bring someone else; Audrey has to sit in on this too, so it's only fair."

"This isn't a game, Mr Secretary." The other man's laid-back attitude was irking him. "I'd appreciate that we just get this over with, so that Chloe can return to the floor. I have an investigation underway," he added, "and I need her in play."

"Bill, if you didn't have your doubts, Ms. O'Brian would not be sitting on the other side of that glass partition."

"I'd like to remind you that it was Audrey who brought this to my attention. As I'm sure you are well aware, she supersedes my authority, and it was she who ordered that Chloe be taken into custody."

Heller smiled grimly. "I am well aware of that. I was just testing to see where your loyalties lie."

"Rest assured that my loyalties lie with my staff," Bill warned dangerously. "I want you to treat her fairly." He paused. "Tony Almeida will be joining us during the questioning."

"Tony Almeida?"

"I need someone I can trust."

"Not Jack Bauer?"

"He shouldn't even be here, not after being involved in two major incidents yesterday."

"Fine. We'll start in five minutes." Secretary Heller reached for the door handle and disappeared away in the direction of the main floor, no doubt in search of his daughter.

No sooner had he gone than the door flew open and Jack crashed into the room, closely followed by Tony.

"What is going on here, Jack? If you won't go home, at least go and wait in your office, or help Michelle-"

"I need to speak with Chloe." Jack reached into his pocket for his key card and began typing the seven digit door release code into the pad on the wall.

"You can't do that, Jack."

"Then let me in on the interrogation."

"No. Tony and I will take care of it." Bill glanced towards the younger man, who nodded. "Please, Jack. Don't do this."

Beeping filled the room as the partitioning door released itself. "Five minutes, Bill. That's all I need." Not giving the Director a chance to respond, Jack pushed the door open and slipped through onto the other side, appearing seconds later through the dividing mirror.

…

"Chloe?" Jack stepped up behind her and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. Slowly, she opened her eyes and lifted her head from her arms. Pulling up the empty chair opposite, Jack sat down beside her and took her small hand in his.

"I didn't do it," she said defiantly.

"I know you didn't."

"Try telling that to Mr Buchanan."

"He's on our side, Chloe."

She sat up fully and twisted in her chair. "You shouldn't be here," she said quietly.

Jack pulled his hand away as though stung. "I'm sorry," he murmured.

"You were hurt yesterday, Jack. Go and get some rest. Don't worry about me." She managed what she hoped was a smile, in spite of the tears behind her eyes. "Who is heading up the interrogation?"

"Bill and Heller," Jack replied, swallowing against the lump in his throat. He noticed how Chloe paled at the mention of the Secretary of Defence, but the look soon passed, to be replaced by one of anger. "I should have known," she muttered.

"Tony will be here, too," he reassured her, wanting to take her hand again but vitally aware that they were being watched closely through the mirror. "And… and Audrey."

"You're not sitting in?"

"Bill said no."

"Oh, right."

"Jack, five minutes is up." Bill's voice sounded over the intercom, and Jack got to his feet. "I'll be here though," he soothed. "If anything happens, anything, Tony will come and get me."

"I'm going to tell them the truth," Chloe told him, "about how Tony and I found those codes on my system."

"You've done nothing wrong, Chloe."

"Jack?"

He paused, halfway to the door. "Yes?"

Chloe dropped her voice. "Last night, I…"

"Last night was special," Jack murmured, loud enough so that only Chloe could hear him. "It meant something to me."

"Jack, I said your five minutes is up."

"Me too," Chloe said finally. "I just… if this goes wrong, I just wanted you to know that."

The lump returned to Jack's throat, and it was all he could do to turn away from her and walk briskly back through the door. He barely registered the fact that Audrey and Heller had assembled in the adjoining room, pushing his way past them towards Bill. "Get this right," he muttered.

"I will, Jack."

"I think we should start," Heller spoke up. "We've wasted enough time as it is. Mr Almeida, would you be so kind as to open the door for me?"

Tony did as asked and held back while the others filed through the entrance. Jack caught his eye and an unspoken agreement passed between them. "I'll go help Michelle and Curtis," he said softly. Tony nodded briefly, and waited until his friend had left the room before joining the rest of the small interrogation team.

…

Jack headed dejectedly back out onto the floor and across to the comm. unit, pulling up a chair beside Curtis and falling into it. The other man looked up from his work and smiled sympathetically, but there was something in his eyes that Jack could not quite work out, nor did he have the energy to want to. Michelle looked up briefly, and exchanged a worried look with Curtis before facing Jack. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah… just tell me what you're working on," he replied absently, noting for the first time what looked like a portion of the server perched precariously amongst Chloe's papers. _Chloe…_she should have been there. Jack felt a pang of emotion shoot through him and he put a hand to his head as though in pain. Knowing better than to repeat her previous question, Michelle carefully picked up the bundle of wires and nodded at Curtis. "Curtis was checking the server for anything that might help Chloe, and we think we've found something."

Jack perked up slightly, his interest piqued. "What did you find?"

His friends exchanged another look, one that this time did not go unnoticed. "Is there something you're not telling me?" Jack's tone was challenging and he looked Michelle square in the eyes. Curtis cleared his throat.

"While I was in the tech room, I saw Audrey."

"Yeah, so?"

"She'd gone in and left the door open, and didn't respond when I called out," Curtis continued. He nodded towards the wires, which Jack could now see were attached to a small hard drive. "This was on the floor, but she tried to stop me from seeing it. Told me she was setting up a station for her father."

"Maybe she was," Jack muttered, taking the equipment from Michelle in order to get a better look at it. "Although, surely she could have done that out here?" Something was nagging at the edge of his mind.

"Yes, she could."

"Have you found anything on this?"

"When she shut down the computer in the tech room, whatever she'd been doing hadn't finished loading. A series of numbers appeared but I had no idea what they were; Audrey seemed to know nothing about them. I called Michelle and we hooked it up to the comm. unit and…" Curtis didn't finish his sentence.

"How did you get this? You're not telling me Audrey just gave it to you?" Jack was well aware that his temper was rising, but he did nothing to control it.

"She left it," Michelle replied quietly. She paused before adding, "Jack, I know this is crazy, but-"

"If she had anything to do with what's happening to Chloe, she wouldn't just leave evidence lying around!" He dropped the small machine onto the desk, where it landed with a soft thump. Curtis reached out and steadied it before it could fall to the floor. "Maybe she wants to be caught, Jack," he said finally. Seeing the warning flash in the other agent's eyes, he continued regardless.

"This was hooked up to our server; it's not our equipment. As for the codes- we've got the most advanced decryption software on them, and they aren't breaking. They've come from an outside machine."

The full effect of Curtis's words began to slowly sink in, further adding to the nagging feeling. "You might be right," Jack whispered hoarsely.

Knowing not to push, they waited patiently for Jack to continue. "I overheard a phone conversation, while I was in medical," he said finally, wincing as he shifted position in his chair. It was clear that he was still in a fair amount of pain, but they all knew there was no chance of him leaving before the mess was straightened out.

"Audrey must have thought I was asleep; she took the call while she was sitting right next to me. I couldn't quite hear all of it, as she got up and walked around, but I got the general idea." Jack paused, remembering. "She said something about not liking someone, and having to remove them."

"Do you know who she was on the phone too? Did she say their name?" Michelle inquired, mentally fitting together this phone call with the two she herself had heard.

"No, no she didn't," Jack replied.

"We need to find out." Curtis thought aloud. "Jack… could you maybe get hold of her cell phone?"

"She always has it on her," Michelle sighed, before Jack could answer.

The simultaneous beeping of the computer and ringing of the phone brought the conversation to an abrupt halt.

"I'll get the phone," Jack announced, reaching for it and snatching it up. "Bauer."

"I was wondering when we would get a chance to talk, although I was hoping to speak to Chloe. Is she there?"

"What do you want, you son of a bitch? You'll talk to me."

"Is she not there? Pity. I might ring back in a little while. I was only going to ask her how she was getting on with the intel I asked her to copy off your servers. She was going to send it to me a few minutes ago but I never received it; is everything okay there? She's not in any trouble I hope."

Jack dropped the phone, the receiver slipping out of his grasp and onto the floor. His hands started shaking, and his breathing quickened. Numbly, he watched Curtis retrieve the phone and finish the call, but he didn't hear what was said.

"He's given me a clue to the final location, but he said that you and Tony would know where it was. Jack? Jack!" Curtis raised his voice. "What's going on? What did he say to you?"

But Jack was on his feet and moving quickly away from them. "Get Tony!" he shouted over his shoulder. "This is important."

…

"Ms. O'Brian, we'll go through it again. You say you found a code on your computer?" Secretary Heller frowned down at the piece of paper in his hand. "But that the code looked as though you yourself had put it in."

Chloe nodded, avoiding the eyes of the woman sat in front of her. Audrey seemed especially pleased with herself, and it showed.

"But… if you had put it in, does that not then mean that you were responsible for the alterations made to Agent Bauer and Agent Almeida's files, not to mention the errors appearing in Mark Russell's file which led to Agent Bauer being seriously injured?"

"I didn't hurt Jack," she whispered.

"But you did alter the files?"

"No."

Heller sighed. "That is what I don't understand." He flipped through his sheets of notes. "And the hacking of the Department of Defence… where exactly were you at this time on this date?" he asked, pointing to the small print on an official DOD document. Chloe couldn't help but notice that Audrey was the one who had signed the form, declaring that the systems had been breached, when she was not the one who had carried out the search…

"Surely that form should have been signed by your head analyst, or whoever carried out the investigation for you," Tony commented, indicating that he too had seen the mistake. Heller rechecked the paper, apparently unaware of such a problem. "No, this is fine. Audrey authorised it," he replied finally.

"But no one else has signed it," Tony countered.

"Tony," Bill muttered warningly, but he made no move to stop his agent from getting to his feet and snatching the form from Heller. "We need a copy of this," he announced.

"And you'll have one," Audrey said smoothly. "Right now though, we have other leads we need to follow. Bill? You said there was something you needed to show us?"

"I don't see how it is relevant to this."

"Oh, I think it is."

"What's she talking about?" Tony demanded.

"The watch." Buchanan removed a small photograph from the file in front of him, and passed it across to Heller. "Jack found this at the location of the first bomb."

"You still haven't answered my question, Ms. O'Brian, about your whereabouts on this date." Heller studied the photo closely, before handing it to his daughter. As Audrey reached out a hand to take it, she smiled acidly. "It doesn't matter where she was. She could hack in from any computer, isn't that right, Chloe?"

"That's enough!"

All eyes were on Bill following his short outburst. "Secretary Heller, with all due respect, I do not appreciate the tone of voice your daughter is using."

"Bill, I appreciate this is hard-"

"No, I don't want to hear that. Now let's just get this damn thing over with so we can go back to catching that moron."

"Fine. Your comments have been noted."

"That photograph was never intended to be used in this interrogation," Buchanan added, his voice barely masking an underlying rage. "It is for use with our investigation."

"Let me see it." Chloe looked at Bill imploringly. "If this has something to do with me, then I have a right to know."

The two older men exchanged glances. "Do it," Heller said finally, and Audrey slid the picture across the table.

Chloe's eyes widened in disbelief. She didn't need to study it closely; one look was enough. "It's mine," she whispered, her fingers once again going to her wrist as if to emphasise the point. "I wore it to work one day and it disappeared-"

"I think we've got what we need, thank you, Chloe." Audrey was quick to cut in, seizing the photo from in front of Chloe's eyes and passing it back to Bill. The Director was silent, not wanting to believe what he had just heard. Beside him, Tony was holding his head in his hands.

"Mr Buchanan, I swear I wasn't there."

"Please don't say any more, Ms O'Brian," Heller interjected. "This is bad enough without you adding further lies into the equation."

"To think you tried to have Jack killed," Audrey spat, her eyes flashing. "I could have lost him, no thanks to you!"

Chloe bit down hard on her lip, until she could taste blood in her mouth. Tears filled her eyes as she pictured the expression on Jack's face when they told him… _"The watch was hers. She was there. She tried to have you killed." _She'd told the truth and what for?

Michelle's voice sounded over the intercom, an almost welcome interruption. "Bill, Tony, we need you out here. Mark Russell has just called in."

"Chloe O'Brian has just admitted that the Rolex watch found at the scene of the crime belongs to her. Interview terminated at…" Audrey glanced at her watch, "… eleven thirty a.m."

Bill and Tony got wearily to their feet. Tony took his key card from his pocket and had just released the door when Chloe spoke up.

"There were no prints on that watch."

"Excuse me?" Audrey looked up in disbelief. "You have just said that it's yours-"

"Jack told me there were no prints," Chloe continued. "Why would I wipe my own prints off my watch, then leave it somewhere where it could so clearly be seen?"

"She has a point," Tony agreed.

"She's making it up," Audrey hissed.

"No, she isn't." Bill paused, one hand on the door. "We no longer have the watch with us; it was stolen during the attack on Jack. This needs to be looked into further," he warned, and turned to follow Tony.

…

"Jack is waiting in the arms room," Michelle informed them, as they emerged from the holding room and back out onto the main floor. "He took the call. Russell said something to him, but I don't know what. He dropped the phone; looked really shaken," she explained in response to Tony's questioning look. "Curtis was the one who got the location."

"Take Curtis with you," Bill ordered. "And back up. Jack's not going into this one alone. I'd rather he didn't go at all."

"We need him," Tony insisted.

"Fine. But hurry."

As Tony rushed away to find Curtis, Michelle took the opportunity to voice her concerns. "Bill, I need to talk to you about something."

"From the look on your face, I can tell this is important. What is it?"

"It's about Audrey."

Bill sighed. "What now?"

They started walking across the floor and to the comm. unit. Michelle logged in to the computer and set up radio contact with the field team, before answering the Director's question. She informed him of the phone calls, and repeated her earlier concerns about Audrey's being in the holding room without clearance. When she had finished, she looked expectantly at Bill.

"This is not good, not good at all," he said quietly. "Are you suggesting that this may be related to the Mark Russell threat, and what is happening to Chloe?"

Michelle nodded. "I think you need to involve Division, go over Audrey's head without her knowing. We need our best people on it, and you know as well as I do that Pete's nowhere near as good at his job as Chloe."

"The timing's too convenient for it not to be linked," Bill mused in agreement. "I wish we knew what Russell said to Jack, to make him act the way he did. I'm sure it would help us."

"He just got up and left. Something got to him."

"Okay. We're going to have to work together on this, Michelle, as we are the only two left in the building still in play. I'm going to go to my office, and call Division, as well as my contact from within the DOD. You're going to have to keep an eye on that decryption process." Bill pointed to the station next to them, where the machine was continuing its fruitless trawl through the lines of code. "At least until Division get here. I want someone else to look at that. To me, it looks as though it's being stored temporarily until it can be moved somewhere else, which means that if it is intel from our systems, we've hopefully caught it in time."


	12. Chapter 11

_**Mutual Purposes- Chapter Eleven**_

The vehicle idled in the midday traffic, Jack tapping impatiently on the rolled-down window. Behind them two additional cars waited in line, both bearing the official Government license plates. At the wheel, Tony sounded the horn impatiently, anxious for whatever was holding up the flow of traffic to start moving again. "We're wasting time," Jack muttered, wishing he had put up more of a fight about who would drive. "Tony, just see if you can get round this."

"I'm looking, Jack, I'm looking," Tony replied through clenched teeth, craning his neck in order to see past the hood of their SUV. "We haven't even cleared the main road yet," he reported to CTU, in response to a status check. "Yes, I know it's taking a long time, Bill. Oh, hold on… we're on the move." Slowly, he inched forward, narrowly missing the next red light. "Okay, we are go."

"Do either of you know where exactly it is we're going?" Curtis asked from his seat in the back. Jack didn't turn round, or offer a response, leaving it to Tony to rethink the 'clue' Russell had given them.

"He said it was a 'place of memories', right?"

"Yes. Somewhere he went 'with people he thought to be his friends.'"

"So, I'm thinking something like a park, or zoo, or fun fair?"

"Somewhere where there will be lots of innocent children," Jack spoke up.

"I never had him down as that," Tony mused.

"We never really did know him," Jack pointed out. "We all thought he was dead."

Something clicked in Tony's mind, causing him to overshoot the next stop sign, sailing through it but leaving the back up teams stranded behind. Jack cursed under his breath.

"Just… calm down," Curtis murmured, sensing the growing tension between his two friends and knowing exactly what was the root cause of it. "Okay, a place of memories. Can you think of anywhere else?"

"What was the date of the fire?" Tony asked suddenly, seemingly changing the subject. Jack threw him a strange look. "The fire? What the hell does that have to do with anything?"

"Come on, Jack. 'People he thought to be his friends.' He's convinced himself that we abandoned him and left him to die; this has got to be revenge for that."

"The Omega."

"Exactly."

"What's the Omega? Do you mean the Omega office block, downtown?" Curtis frowned, not fully understanding.

As Tony relayed the new information back to CTU, Jack twisted in his seat. "Yeah. It's the building that burned down when the three of us were working there. They rebuilt it not long after." He paused. "And now he's going to burn it down again."

…

Once Tony had confirmed the teams' destination, Bill returned to his office, shutting and locking the door. He hated to leave Michelle on her own, but knew that the call he was about to make could not be interrupted.

Chloe remained under the ever watchful eye of Secretary Heller, something Bill was greatly aware of. He was surprised the other man hadn't followed him back out onto the floor, but then recalled the earlier promise the Secretary had made of not interfering in the investigation unless it was necessary.

As Bill dialled the number for Division, he thought about how Heller's number one concern right then was Chloe, and the so called threat she posed; never mind the fact that his daughter had made a very serious, and very real slip up of her own.

"Division, Hughes."

"Simon, it's Bill Buchanan in Los Angeles."

"Bill, hey. What's going on?"

"I wish this were a social call, Simon, but I'm afraid it isn't. I have reason to believe that our Department of Defence liaison, a Ms. Audrey Raines, is working against us and supplying intel to a known and wanted terrorist." Bill waited as the message made its way across three time zones, and could almost hear the cogs whirring in the younger man's brain. "That's a pretty damn serious allegation, Bill," came the response after a couple minutes of loaded silence. "What evidence do you have?"

Bill quickly filled Simon in on all the relevant details. "I am sure you've heard that one of my agents has been taken into custody for the so-called hacking of the DOD's systems?"

"Yes, I had heard that. And I didn't think it made any sense. Chloe was, I mean, is, one of the best analysts this entire agency has ever seen, and her loyalty to Jack Bauer is fierce."

"I agree that it makes no sense, and I hear your reasons," Bill agreed. "But yet the idea that Audrey Raines is working against us is just as unthinkable."

"Have you spoken to anyone at the DOD?"

"Not yet, although I do have a contact."

"You were right to ring us first. When you do ring your contact, do not let on that we know anything about this. The last thing you or I need is Heller finding out."

"You don't need to tell me twice," Bill muttered. "He's here already, heading up Chloe's interrogation. Listen, Simon. Do you think I have a good case here?"

There was another long pause, after which Bill heard a sigh. "Yes, Bill, I do. But you need to get that hard drive looked at, as well as Chloe's system. Anything she's logged onto, et cetera. Or if she's logged on outside of CTU; that might be of even more help to you in finding out who did this."

"Are you suggesting that Audrey Raines isn't working alone?"

"Bill, she doesn't have the know-how. She doesn't know your systems. I think you're looking for someone who works for you, or used to work for you. Not Chloe, because we both agree that she wouldn't do it, although sadly that matter is out of our hands for the time being. I'll send a team from District straight over to you," Simon added.

"Thanks, Simon. I'll keep you updated."

"No problem. And Bill? Not a word to Heller, or the President, until we know further. We keep this within the agency."

…

"You want to tell me what's pissing you off?" Tony asked, as he pulled the car into the business complex which housed the Omega office building. He circled the parking lot, looking for a suitable space. Behind him, he saw the back up teams and the bomb squad enter the compound.

"Not now, Tony." Jack's tone was like ice, but Tony didn't hear it. He heard only the anguish and utter helplessness at not being able to protect Chloe.

"It might help if you told us what Russell said to you," Curtis suggested tentatively.

"It doesn't matter."

"Maybe it does-"

"IT DOESN'T MATTER!"

"Okay, jeez, Jack." Tony whistled lightly. "It doesn't matter. Fine. Let's leave it at that." His eyes met Curtis's through the rear view mirror and they exchanged a worried glance. "We're here," he announced, stopping abruptly and putting the car in park. "Let's get this over with."

"If I'm right about this fire, we're going to need to go in alone," Jack told them, stepping out of the vehicle and round to the trunk. "We cannot afford to lose men."

"The bomb will be the most likely cause of the fire," Tony pointed out, climbing out also and loading his weapon. "The bomb squad comes with."

"The building will be swarming with people," Curtis added. "It's probably not a good idea to evacuate, and if we go in and set the fire alarm off, it's going to alert him to our presence."

"That's if he's there," Jack replied. "He may not even be here. He might be watching us, right now, like the sick son of a bitch that he is."

"Bill sent back up; we should use it."

Jack weighed up the options. "Okay. Here's what we do. The three of us will go in, with the bomb squad on stand by. Delta One, do you copy this?" he yelled into his radio. A muffled "yes" sounded after a few minutes. "Good. You will also be on stand by, until I give the order to go in."

"Bill's not going to like this," Curtis warned, but he followed Jack as he walked towards the building, up the front steps and into the busy reception area. Tony walked in last, eyes on the crowd, searching for any sign of Russell.

Jack spoke quickly to the young woman on reception, who barely hid her fear as she paged the managing director. "H-he'll be with you in one minute," she stammered, blushing furiously. "T-this isn't serious, is it?"

"We can't discuss it," Tony told her, musing silently that this was now the second time in as many days that he found himself waiting for someone else to come sort out the ever expanding mess they were finding themselves in. It struck him just how much time they had wasted looking for Russell. "I can't believe we didn't think of this sooner," he said, noticing how Jack was all but leaning against the desk for support. Jack blinked several times before replying. "It never crossed my mind," he said quietly. "He wants revenge, that much I do know."

"I'm afraid he can't see you just now." The receptionist eyed them warily, before settling on Curtis, obviously deciding he would be the most compliant of the three. She frowned. "He's just sent me a memo saying that he does not want to be disturbed."

Jack moved away from the desk. "Never mind; we'll go up to him. What's his name?"

"Sir, you can't go up without security clearance-"

"He asked you a question," Curtis broke in. "I'm sorry, but it really is imperative that we speak with him now."

The girl sighed, and reached for the phone. "Let me call him. Where did you say you were from?"

"That won't be necessary, thank you." Tony smiled. "We'll find our own way. Pent house, is it?"

"Mr Russell will not appreciate being interrupted."

Jack froze, half way to the elevator. "Did you say, Mr Russell?"

"Yes. He's been out for a few days but he just came back this morning… wait! You can't go up there!" Her shouts fell on deaf ears, as they tore across the foyer and towards the fire escape.

"Delta One, this is Almeida. Russell is in the building. Secure the perimeter."

They took the stairs two at a time, bypassing the elevator for fear of losing more time. Jack had taken the lead, but soon fell back, allowing Tony to guide them up increasingly steep steps. "He knows we're here," Jack panted, his head pounding and the cut on his arm stinging. "This is almost too easy."

"It's been too easy from the start," Curtis bit out. "He's given us more than enough time, yet remains out of reach just long enough to get away."

"This is different. He's waiting for us."

After several minutes, they arrived at the uppermost floor. Weapon drawn, Tony shouldered the door open and they stepped out into the quiet, lavishly decorated hallway. "He must live here," he mused, holding the door to stop it slamming behind them. "This isn't just an office. This is a home."

"You mean, all this time, he's been in here, right under our noses, and we didn't know? For three years?" Jack spat, breathing heavily. "How could we have not known?"

"He can't have been here that long," Curtis said doubtfully. "He must have gone under the radar for some time. It seems to me like he's been planning this, and is using this job as a cover."

"I agree." Tony looked up and down the corridor. It seemed to stretch on endlessly in either direction, ending in a blank wall at each end. The elevator waited silently on the opposite wall, next to a small archway that led on to the main stairwell. "They've completely redesigned it," he murmured. "This is our only way out."

"There used to be another stair case further along," Jack explained to a confused looking Curtis. "It was the rear stairway. They've blocked it off from up here." He turned to Tony. "We need to split up. We don't know where his office is."

"Remember, we don't have an advantage here," Tony warned. He took a step to the left. "Jack, you and Curtis go that way. Call for back up the _second _you need it." He ignored the look of annoyance that Jack shot his way. "Are we to assume the bomb is on this floor?"

"Yes. This is it. He's got us right where he wants us."

Tony nodded. "Okay. Let's go."

…

"Michelle?" Bill walked briskly across the bullpen, a small group of people wearing visitors' badges trailing behind him. Michelle stood up. "This is the team Division sent me. Laura Harman, head analyst," he informed her, nodding to a tall, red headed woman. "They will be carrying out a search of Chloe's system, the hard drive, and the tech rooms. Leave Audrey's station alone for the time being," he said quietly. "Heller does not need to know about this."

"Where would you like us to start?" Laura enquired. Without waiting for an answer, she took in the hard drive and the mess of wires. "I'll start with this," she announced. "I'll need to use Ms. O'Brian's work station."

"By all means."

Laura turned to face her team, swiftly deploying them to various parts of the building. "We'll be as discreet as possible," she assured Bill.

"When you're done, you report directly to me."

"Understood."

Bill watched as the group dispersed. "What's happening at the Omega?" he asked Michelle, who had resumed her seat and was talking rapidly into her headset.

"Russell is there," she replied, typing at the keyboard and bringing up the building's schematics. "Okay, Jack. The floor is clear, like you said. You've got four doors on the right hand side, and three on the left. There is movement in five of the seven rooms." Jack could be heard cursing on the other end of the radio. "Delta Two, this is CTU, I need you to move in, take the elevator up to the top floor." She looked up at Bill. "Turns out he's been working as the managing director. Probably a cover. Tony?"

"This is Almeida."

"You've got two rooms on the left, two on the right. Movement in three of them. I'm sending in back up."

"Copy that."

"He's repeating history," Bill mused. "Only this time, we'll get him."

"Any news on Chloe?" Michelle asked.

Bill shook his head. "It's not looking good. Heller's still in there with her. Just as you walked in, she admitted that the watch we found is hers." Michelle stared in disbelief. "No."

"She says she wasn't there, and I believe her. Something isn't right, though. The form Audrey showed us, relating to the search she carried out yesterday, has not been signed by anyone other than her."

"What if there was no search?" Michelle offered. "It fits, Bill. After everything else."

"We can't assume that."

"That form needs to be counter signed. You know that, I know that, and she knows that. It fits," she repeated. "As for the watch… maybe it was planted?"

"My contact at the DOD is looking into it for me. Until we know more, we mustn't get ahead of ourselves."

…

Jack and Curtis quickly took care of the armed men waiting in the various vacant rooms lining the hallway. Behind them, they could hear shots being fired, and Tony shouting out orders to the newly arrived Delta team. Jack had at first refused help, but as it became clear that he was in no fit state to take on five armed men by himself, Curtis radioed for help and they continued rapidly through the maze of rooms. Each one led effortlessly onto another, but as yet there had been no sign of Mark Russell, or the bomb.

One room was yet to be searched. It was the last room on the left hand side, set apart from the others. Tony jogged up behind them as Curtis kicked the door down, his end of the hallway clear. There was no time left for a silent entrance; their gun shots had ruined all element of surprise.

The door came clean off its hinges. Behind it, the room was bare, save for a large mahogany desk, at which sat Mark Russell. His presence was so calm, and so sudden, that it sent them staggering back in shock.

"You weren't expecting to find me here, were you?"

Jack made to lunge forward, but found himself restrained by Curtis. "You brought your friend, Jack," Russell noted, standing up. He shut the lid of the laptop he'd been working at. "Took you long enough to find me," he said casually.

"Let's get this over with," Tony told him. "Come with us, and we'll try and cut you a deal."

"Oh, no. I don't want to do that. I know all about CTU's 'deals', Tony. Remember I used to work with you?"

"What happened to you?" Jack muttered, wrenching himself out of Curtis's grip.

"I changed. I wanted something different."

"So you faked your own death?" Tony was incredulous. "Why not just take early retirement?"

"I wanted you to remember me," Mark said simply. "I wanted to make you feel guilty. You took my job," he told Jack. "Everyone knew I was meant to be head of field ops. But then you got it. The Omega Mission made me see that you weren't fit to run field ops."

"You… you _staged _the fire?"

"That mission was mine from start to finish. I worked up most of the intel, I put in the most time-"

"That's crap and you know it."

"He's sick, Tony." Jack laughed bitterly. "He thinks we owe him something."

"But you do. Don't you see?"

"What could we possibly owe you?"

"You took my life. I want it back."

He reached slowly into his pocket, and pulled out what looked like a small pen. Jack moved forward, wrestled him to the ground, knocking it out of his hand. "Tony, grab it!" he yelled, as Mark threw himself across the room after the object. Curtis moved to block Russell's way, but was knocked backwards. Tony snatched the pen from within Russell's reach and held it up, studying it closely. His eyes flicked between the item in his hand and the laptop on the desk, registering almost instantly what was about to happen.

Flames engulfed them as the bomb exploded. The desk shattered, sending fragments of wood flying across the room. "Run! Evacuate the building!" Curtis yelled, waving the back up teams towards the stairs. The fire was spreading across the walls and towards the door, licking at the door frame. Curtis and Tony backed away, coughing. Jack still lay on the floor, not moving. Tony cursed and dived back into the remains of the office. He could see Mark Russell making for the window.

"Don't be stupid, Mark. That _will _kill you."

"It's what I did last time," he shrugged. Tony saw that his left arm was badly burned, and he was limping. The smoke obscured his vision. Around him, walls were collapsing, the floor caving downwards. With a jolt, he realised that Jack was still too far away to be reached.

"How long have we got?" he shouted.

"Not long, Tony. Not long." Mark was almost calm, but Tony could sense the fear in his voice, fear that hadn't been there four years ago. This wasn't part of the plan.

"Tony! You need to get out!" Curtis's frantic yelling came from somewhere behind him. "The floor's not going to hold for much longer."

"Get out!" Tony shouted back. "I've got this."

In the split second that his attention was diverted, Mark had got the window open and had one foot poised, ready to launch himself out of it. Someone shouted, and then Jack was on his feet and pulling Mark back to the floor. Tony allowed himself a moment of relief, before pushing forward and grabbing hold of Russell's legs. They moved as fast as they could towards the now gaping doorway, hindered by Russell's struggles.

"I wasn't just going to leave you," Curtis coughed, as they appeared in the hallway. The smoke was denser, and they blinked furiously. The floor in the office gave way completely, crashing down to the level below. Screams echoed in Tony's ears. "Did they evacuate?" he demanded, as they ran towards the fire escape.

"Yes, but I don't know how many people they got out." He pushed the door open and they half carried, half dragged a now unconscious Russell down the stairs. Around them, people ran hurriedly towards the relative safety of the parking lot. The lower floors had not been as badly affected, and as they emerged back out into the foyer, they saw the fire department pull up outside.

The Delta teams were waiting by the main entrance, helping to clear the building. Tony caught sight of the young woman who had been on the reception desk, and she gave him a shaky smile as he passed.

Curtis moved ahead and unlocked the car, helping Tony to throw Mark into the back seat. "He needs an ambulance," he muttered, getting in beside him.

"He can wait until we get back to CTU," Jack argued.

Tony got behind the wheel and started the ignition, moving quickly away from the carnage that was the Omega office block.

…

Bill snatched up his cell phone. "Bill Buchanan." He moved off the main floor and up the stairs, attempting to remain casual. Michelle caught his eye and he nodded. "Thank you for getting back to me."

"You were right, Bill. Audrey Raines never asked anyone to carry out a search of our systems. A check _was _carried out, around the time you gave me, but it was done externally. I'm thinking she logged on from one of your computers, and forged the search documents. If there had been a search, one of our analysts would have signed it. It's protocol," he added.

Bill groaned inwardly. "Okay, thanks."

"Bill, Jack's just called in. They're on their way back!" Michelle shouted. "Russell's unconscious, and Jack doesn't sound too good."

He flew back down to the main floor. "I'll have the medical team on standby," he told her. "What sort of damage are we looking at?"

Michelle brought up satellite images of the business complex. "The upper floors are almost completely wiped out, but they think they can save it," she replied. "No one else injured."

"That's got to be a miracle," Bill murmured. He picked up the desk phone and rang through to medical. As he was briefing the on duty doctor, Secretary Heller came striding towards them.

"Bill, a word." Michelle looked up. "Who is this?" he demanded, indicating towards Laura who had successfully cracked the code on the hard drive and was now sifting through the information.

"Laura Harman, from Division," Bill replied, hanging up the phone. "Is there something I can help you with? Is Chloe okay?"

"What is Division doing here? Has it got something to do with a phone call you made to one of my staff earlier this afternoon?" Heller was seething, barely controlling his anger. "I'd thank you _not _to go over my head."

"And I'd thank _you _not to interfere in an agency investigation," Bill replied smoothly. From the look on the other man's face, he hazarded a guess that Heller didn't know what the phone call had been about. Bill had known and trusted his contact for years; the only possible explanation was that someone had listened in and 'helpfully' informed the Secretary of Defence.

"To answer your previous question," Heller snapped, "Chloe is not okay. I've left her with Audrey for the time being, but you're going to have to think about getting her a damn good lawyer before this day is out."

…

The holding room was small and airless. Audrey stood up and poured herself a glass of water, swallowing against the dryness in her throat. Across from her, Chloe was staring blankly at the floor. "You want a drink?" she offered.

"Go to hell."

Audrey shrugged. "I don't think it's me that needs to be worrying about that, do you?"

"You know I didn't do this." Chloe raised her head and looked the blonde in the eyes. The gaze she received was cold, unflinching. "Truth hurt, Chloe?"

"Truth? What truth?"

"You've been found out, and no one is here to help you. Jack's not here," she added, smiling nastily. "After you almost got him killed, it's not really a surprise, is it? What was it he said to you in here? Was he telling you how much he hates you? Because he doesn't love you, Chloe. He loves me." Audrey walked round to Chloe and rested her hands on the back of the chair. "Tell me what he said."

"It's killing you, not knowing."

"Not really."

"Yes, it is. Why do you have to know? It wasn't about you."

Audrey smiled stiffly. "I'll find out, Chloe. You're just making it difficult for yourself."

She moved away and stood by the door. Chloe took a shaky breath and reached for the photo still lying on the table. The watch was just as she remembered it, aside from a small scratch in the face. Audrey looked over and laughed. "Remember it?"

Chloe opened her mouth to retort, but chose to save her breath. Audrey flashed a murderous look. "I have a phone call to make," she said suddenly. "I have to go in the next room to make it, but if you try anything… you know I can see you." She keyed in the door code and stepped through, her hand in her pocket. Confusion etched itself into her features as she realised that her cell phone was missing.

"Damn it," she muttered, stepping back into the room and double checking the desk.

"Lost something?"

Audrey didn't reply. "Damn it," she repeated. She moved back towards the door and re-keyed the release code. "I have to go and get it. I'll have someone come in and watch you."

No sooner had she opened the door than Secretary Heller stepped through it. He spared a brief, pitying look in Chloe's direction. "We're needed on the floor," he told Audrey. "Mark Russell has been brought in."

Chloe's head shot up. "They got him?"

"That is no longer your concern, Ms. O'Brian." Heller held the door for Audrey, oblivious to her despair at not being able to find her cell phone. "Someone will be in to watch you," he added.

"What about Jack?" she asked, battling to keep the emotion out of her voice. "Is he okay?"

But Heller was gone, the door slamming behind him. As he conferred with one of his Secret Service agents, a sob escaped Chloe's lips, and she gave in to her tears.

…

The medical team met them as they pulled up at the back entrance of CTU. Russell was carefully loaded onto a stretcher and wheeled away, shouting obscenities. He'd regained consciousness on the route back, and as a result Curtis emerged from the car with a split lip. "I'm fine," he insisted, waving away an over zealous nurse. "It's just a cut." She hurried away after the doctor, almost running into Bill as he marched towards them.

"Thank God you're all okay." He stood back as Jack climbed uneasily from the passenger side. "You need to go to medical, and that's an order."

"Bill, I'm fine."

"You don't look fine. You all need to be treated for smoke inhalation, and Curtis, I want you to get that lip looked at. Once you're done, I need to see you all in my office."

He turned to walk away, not waiting to see if his team would follow him. Reluctantly, they moved away from the vehicle and back into CTU, taking the short walk down to the medical wing where they were greeted by Audrey. Bypassing Tony and Curtis, she launched herself into Jack's arms. "I almost lost you," she wept, burying her face in his chest.

Jack carefully disentangled himself from her and stood back, shocked by the change in her behaviour. "I'm fine," he said quietly. "Shouldn't you be helping your father?"

"He's talking with the President," she informed him, wiping her eyes. Tony and Curtis slipped past her and into the medical wing. "I'm so relieved you're all okay."

"Audrey, I really need to see the doctor-"

"Will you be coming home tonight? I mean, I know you went to your apartment last night, and I am so sorry we rowed about Chloe. It was stupid of me."

"I don't think so, Audrey."

She paled. "Oh?"

Tony appeared in the door way. "Sorry, but we need to get this done."

"Just coming." Jack stepped away from Audrey. "We need some time apart, to figure things out." Before she could reply, he opened the door and disappeared inside. He found Tony perched impatiently on the edge of the work surface that ran the entire length of the room, watching as a nurse stitched up Curtis's lip. He looked a question at Jack, who avoided his eyes. "Thanks," he said briefly.

"No problem."

…

Heller snapped his cell phone shut and smiled at his daughter. "The President is happy with the way things are going," he said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "That's good news."

"Why shouldn't he be?" They were stood, waiting, a little way down from the holding room where Mark Russell had been deposited only minutes earlier. Audrey had as yet to find an excuse to slip out onto the floor and retrieve her cell phone, and she was agitated.

"Hey, why are you so wound up?"

She shook her head. "Nothing, Dad. It's been a long day and… Jack and I are having problems," she whispered, averting her eyes. Heller sighed and pulled her into a hug. "I'm sorry, honey," he soothed. He kissed the top of her head. "Perhaps some time apart is what you need."

"That's what Jack said," she sniffed. "I'm sorry, Daddy," she added, moving away. "Why don't you tell me what the President said?"

Heller's face became a mask of anger. "Turns out Bill Buchanan went over my head, and yours, and contacted someone at the DOD. He's also got technicians from Division here, although I have yet to find out what they are doing."

"Oh. Why would he do that?"

"You tell me, honey. This will be looked into. He's probably upset that one of his team has been taken into custody."

Audrey turned away so that she was facing the wall. "Yes, that's probably it," she murmured, her hands starting to shake. Coming her to her senses, she cleared her throat. "I'd like to talk to him."

"To Mark Russell? Absolutely not."

"Dad, it involves us just as much as it does CTU." She looked at him imploringly. "I'd like to speak to the man who tried to have the man I love killed." She knew Heller was giving in, for he moved away up the hall and spoke quietly to Bill. Seconds later, he reappeared. "Okay, honey. We'll all be watching, though, in case he tries anything. Oh, and you'll need this." He handed her a startlingly familiar item. "Found it on him as he was brought in."

Audrey nodded, looking at the watch now sitting in her palm. "Why do I need this?"

"Try and get him to talk," Heller replied, taking her arm and leading her towards the holding room. He moved past the assembled CTU agents and over to the connecting door. "Remember, honey. Don't let him intimidate you." As she stepped through, Audrey risked a look at Jack, somewhat surprised that he hadn't put up a fight. He met her gaze but said nothing. "I won't," she said finally.

Mark looked up as Audrey stepped into the room. "Ah, look who we have here," he smiled. "If it isn't the daughter of the Secretary of Defence."

"Shut up," she hissed, sitting down. She took the watch and placed it before him. "You found it," he mused, reaching to pick it up. Audrey pulled it back from within his reach. "It's got your prints all over it again," he said, quieter this time.

Audrey glanced sharply up at the mirror. "If you co-operate, I can get you out of here."

He laughed. "Why should I trust you?"

"I've done everything you asked me to do." Audrey lowered her voice and stepped closer. "You just have something left to finish for me."

"Meaning?"

"Chloe O'Brian."

…

"I can't hear what she's saying." Impatiently, Jack reached for the intercom. "I want her out of there; this isn't helping."

"A couple more minutes, Jack," said Heller decisively. Bill nodded his agreement and Jack stood back, overruled. Beside him, Michelle excused herself, saying she needed to get some water. Tony watched her go. "Jack's right, Bill. This is getting us nowhere."

"Mr. Almeida, this is not your call-"

A sudden commotion cut through the rest of Heller's words. Behind the glass, Russell erupted into a rage, kicking his legs so violently that the table overturned. Bill surged forward and wrenched the door open, pulling Audrey through. She ran to her father, who enveloped her in a hug and turned her away from the noise.

"I want to speak to Chloe! I will only speak to Chloe!" Russell yelled as Bill started to close the door. Too late, Tony moved to block Jack's path, but his friend had already made his way into the adjoining room and had Russell pinned against the wall.

"What do you want with Chloe?" he spat, tightening his hold on Russell's neck. "Answer me, you-"

"Jack, put him down! Now!"

His breath coming in short gasps, Jack reluctantly loosened his grip and the other man slumped to the floor. "Tell me what you want with Chloe," he repeated. Mark simply looked up at him and smiled.

…

Michelle drained her glass and rinsed it before placing it on the work top to dry. She took a few moments to catch her breath, the events of the last few hours catching up with her. She thought about checking on the team from Division, but decided that they would report to Bill if and when they found anything. Michelle was pretty sure it was a matter of sooner rather than later.

She passed Laura on her way back across the floor. The red head was deep in concentration, writing something into a note book. She smiled as Michelle walked by, something Michelle took to be a good sign. Daring to feel confident, she smiled for the first time that day, and, picking up her pace, continued on towards the rear hallways.

A glance at the deserted DOD desk made her stop in her tracks. Lying amidst the piles of papers and files was Audrey's personal cell phone. Without a second thought, Michelle retrieved a clean tissue from her pocket, picked up the item, and retraced her steps back to her workstation.


	13. Chapter 12

_**Mutual Purposes- Chapter Twelve**_

"Answer the question." Bill leaned across the table until he was looking Russell straight in the eyes. The former agent smirked, his gaze unfaltering. "What question would that be? I've lost track," he muttered, his voice bored. From his position by the door, Jack made as though to move towards him, and Mark suddenly found his voice. "Oh, you mean the question about Chloe?" He shrugged. "We go back a long time."

"How long is a long time?" Jack hissed.

"We were lovers," Mark said simply. "I think that explains it all, don't you? Unless, you want me to go into details?"

"That will not be necessary," Bill cut in. Choosing to ignore the remark, he repeated his question.

"Oh, so you do want more detail? That's fine." Russell settled himself as comfortably as he could in the cold, plastic chair. "It started about four years ago. Just after you went to Chicago," he added for Jack's benefit. "She started here soon after that, and we were… together. Naturally, she thought I was dead, but when I asked her for her help with this, she was more than willing. If you know what I mean."

"Jack, don't let him get to you," Bill muttered, without turning around. Behind him, Jack tried in vain to control his temper, feeling his blood boil just hearing about what this man had supposedly done with Chloe… _with Chloe. _He was sat facing Russell, which put him at a disadvantage, but he didn't dare move, not wanting to give him the satisfaction.

"No, don't let me wind you up, Jack. That was all over years ago. She moved on. But when I heard how close you and she were, well… I just knew I had to ask her to help me."

"You're lying."

The words were spoken so quietly that even Bill had to turn in his seat. "What was that?"

"I said, he's lying. Chloe didn't start here until I got back." Jack got to his feet and walked over to Russell. "You don't know Chloe at all. She wouldn't do business with a terrorist."

"I beg to differ." Mark sighed. "Is that all I am to you now, Jack? A common terrorist?"

"You haven't told us exactly what the plan was," Bill reminded him, anxious to break up the argument before it started. Russell dragged his eyes back to the man sitting before him, his smirk still firmly in place. "I don't want to say anything else until I have spoken to a lawyer. Where's that Audrey Raines? Isn't she from the DOD? She can get me a lawyer."

Bill got to his feet. "This is hopeless," he muttered to Jack. "We'll get you a lawyer. But believe me, we are going to get to the bottom of this," he added to Russell, who merely shrugged. "Take as long as you want. I'm not going anywhere."

Heller greeted the two agents as they rejoined the group in the next room. "Anything?" he asked, risking a glance in at Russell before the door shut. Bill shook his head. "No. But he wants to speak to Audrey for some reason." He faced the blonde. "Seems to think you can get him a decent lawyer."

Audrey paled.

"It's okay; you don't have to go back in there." Heller put an arm around his daughter's shoulders. "Let me deal with him, Bill. I'll call around, see what I can do."

"Okay, fine. Where's Michelle?"

"She went to get a drink, hasn't come back yet," Tony replied. "I'll go check on her." He swiftly left the room, followed by Heller. Bill turned to Curtis. "I want you to go keep an eye on Chloe," he instructed. "I want her to know we're doing everything we can."

"Will do." Curtis moved towards the door. "Who's staying here with Russell?"

Audrey immediately got to her feet. "I absolutely must make a phone call, and I've left my cell phone out on the desk." She nodded briefly at the three men, before turning and walking through the door that Curtis held open. Bill eyed Jack cautiously. "I don't think it's a good idea-"

"I won't touch him, Bill," Jack said quietly.

"From what I've just seen, I can't believe that. I'm sorry, Jack. I'll call security, have someone watch him."

Jack didn't argue, didn't say anything as he followed his colleagues from the room and back to the main floor.

…

"Hey, where've you been?" Tony walked quickly over to Michelle's station and dropped a kiss to her cheek. "Are you okay?" He frowned when he saw the object in her hand. "Whose is that?"

Michelle flipped the lid of the cell phone open and began scrolling down through the list of recently made and received calls. "I keep looking through it, hoping that I was wrong, that it doesn't say what I think it says."

"Honey, I'm confused." Tony sat down beside her. "What does it say?"

"Those numbers are linked to the Omega office block," she said quietly. "At least, a good few of them. Some are from a cell phone, which I have no doubt belongs to Mark Russell."

Tony's eyes widened as he caught on to what his wife was inferring. "Have you tried ringing them? We've got his phone; if it's him then we'll know it."

"You're right." Michelle stood. "I'll take this down to the evidence room. Oh, hold on." She was stopped in her tracks by the familiar sound of high heels clicking across the floor. Curious, Tony stood also. "You go," he said quickly. "I'll distract her." Not needing to be told twice, Michelle took her leave.

"Hey, Audrey, is everything okay?" Tony strolled casually up to the desk and offered a forced smile. "Have you lost something?"

"My cell phone," Audrey muttered, her cheeks flushed. Thinking fast, she improvised. "I must have left it in Chloe's holding room."

"You can always use our phones," Tony offered, knowing full well that his presence was irking her. "I'm sure it will turn up."

"Tony, I appreciate your _help,_ but this really is important, so if you don't mind?" Without waiting for a response, Audrey pushed past him and back in the direction of the rear corridors, almost colliding with Bill and Jack.

"Is everything okay?" Bill asked, holding out a hand to steady her. Audrey shook him off. "I'm looking for my father," she replied, irritated. "Have you seen him?"

"He was going to make a private call… I assume he could be in the situation room?" Bill suggested. He noted without comment that Jack hadn't spoken a word.

"The situation room… right." Audrey paused, making no move towards her new destination. "Maybe I'll just… take a break before I go talk to him," she said finally. "Now that the threat is over."

"We have yet to clear Chloe's name; it's far from over." Jack's eyes flashed a warning. "Maybe I'll go take a break, too."

Bill shot him a look, but said nothing as Jack took Audrey's arm and steered her towards the break room.

"Where are we going? Let go of me!" Audrey struggled against his ever tightening grip as they climbed the stairs. "Jack, what's the matter?"

He kicked the door open and pushed her inside, not speaking until he was satisfied that she wasn't going to try and run. "I want to know what you said to him." His tone was cold, unyielding. Audrey did her best to feign ignorance, and fought to keep her voice steady. "He told me he wanted a lawyer. I said I would try and find him one."

"No, he said that to Bill. Tell me what he said to _you._"

Audrey glanced around desperately. "I just told you!"

"Why were you whispering?"

"I'm sorry?"

"When you spoke with him, why didn't you speak so that the rest of us could hear? Were you saying something you didn't want us to know about?"

"Don't be absurd, Jack. I know you're upset about Chloe, but really, making these lies up about me, in an attempt to convince yourself that your precious analyst is innocent, is pathetic." She got to her feet and crossed her arms across her chest. "She's guilty, Jack. Why can't any of you see it?"

He took a step toward her. "Chloe wouldn't do it," he said simply, his anger punctuating every word. "I know her."

"Maybe not as well as you thought." She shook her head. "I'm sorry, Jack. I'm sorry that you're about to be proved wrong. Really, I am. She all but admitted to being at the scene of the first bomb… which means she's been in contact with him, probably sleeping with him." Audrey didn't miss the pain that fell across Jack's face, and continued on regardless. "It seems she betrayed your trust."

Her words had the desired effect. Jack took two menacing steps towards her, before remembering where he was. He stopped just short of the table and glared down at her. "Get out," he whispered. "This is over. Just… get out."

Audrey got to her feet. "Are you ending things with me, Jack?"

"I think you heard me." Jack moved back towards the door and held it open for her. "You have to be here, then fine. But I do not want you anywhere near me, you understand?" His voice was clear and unwavering, masking the anger behind it. Audrey smiled. "I understand you perfectly. It still doesn't change Chloe's fate, Jack. It might make you feel better; pushing me away, but it won't bring her closer to you. She didn't choose you, Jack." She hesitated just outside the door. "She chose Mark Russell."

"What the hell are you talking about, 'bring her closer to me?' Is that what you think I want?"

Audrey shook her head. "No, it's what I _know _you want."

"You're wrong!"

"I don't think so-"

"I said, _you're wrong!_ I'm not pushing you away; you pushed me away, right from the start. You didn't even try to like Los Angeles, or make an effort to fit in. I'm sick of it, Audrey. I'm just so tired of trying to be something or someone you _want _me to be, instead of being myself." He took a deep breath. "I don't expect you to understand that."

"No, I don't understand." Audrey sighed audibly. "Then again, I never did, did I?" She reached out and placed her hand on his cheek. "I'm sorry, Jack." He flinched away from her touch. "Just go," he whispered. "I'll come round sometime and pick up my stuff."

"I'll have it boxed up, ready for you."

He shook his head. "No, I'd rather you didn't."

She gazed at him sadly. "I really am sorry, Jack." Her tone was resigned, somewhat final. It niggled at him but he pushed it to one side and watched as she walked slowly away from him and back down to the bullpen.

…

Bill stared incredulously at Tony. "Her cell phone?" he repeated, glancing back in the direction he had come. "Does she know?"

"No, but she's sure as hell going crazy looking for it." Tony placed his hands on his hips. "I tried stalling her but…"

"She said she was looking for her father," Bill cut in, his brow furrowing in confusion. "I said he may have been in the situation room and then she decided that she needed to go take a break. Jack went with her," he added thoughtfully.

"Probably better not to get involved in that," Tony advised.

"Problems?"

"You could say that," he replied after a moment's pause. He shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot. "Listen, Bill… I'm sorry I gave you such a hard time… you know, before."

The older man shrugged. "It's okay, Tony. I understand your reasons, even if I don't agree with them." He smiled. "When this day is over, I'm going to take the whole team out and buy you all drinks."

Tony managed what he hoped was a smile in return. "Sounds good."

"But first, we need to find out what is going on with Audrey." Bill peered around Tony's shoulder and through the glassed double doors of the situation room. "Heller _is _in there, like I said… something isn't right…"

"Mr. Buchanan?"

He spun round at the sound of his name, to be greeted by the sight of Laura Harman holding up the hard drive. "You told us to report to you when we were done?"

Bill sighed. "At last, maybe some good news." He beckoned towards his office. "Please, come with me. All of you," he added to the group of analysts now gathering behind Laura. He began striding towards the stairs, Tony at his side. Once they reached the relative sanctuary of his office, Bill waited for the small team to assemble before closing the door. "Tell me what you have."

Laura opened her mouth to speak, but found herself interrupted by the incessant knocking of Secretary Heller at the office door. Grimacing, Bill opened it and let the other man in. "Can I help you, Mr. Secretary?"

Heller took in the silent row of people standing before him, his eyes coming to rest on the barely hidden smirk on Tony's face. "What is the meaning of this, Bill?"

"Mr. Secretary, if I may?" Laura once again held up the hard drive. "I was about to show Mr. Buchanan some evidence relating to the current case."

"Oh, really?" He rounded on Bill. "Is this correct?"

"Yes."

"I fail to see how bringing in a group of analysts without my authorisation is _relevant._"

"With all due respect, sir, I am in charge of this agency. Or do you not remember handing command back over to me?"

His anger and annoyance barely contained, the Secretary of Defence stepped past Bill and over to Laura. "Well? I'm waiting. Let's hear whatever it is you've found." Laura's eyes flicked warily between the two men. On receiving the go ahead from Bill, she began to relay her team's findings.

"This hard drive contains intel not only on the current situation concerning Mark Russell, but also highly classified information relating to the Phoenix-Omega mission four years ago." She placed the piece of equipment down on the desk in front of her and resumed her explanation. "Whoever it was used a very advanced encryption program. The information was going to be stored on the hard drive in order to be transported to another location."

Bill and Tony exchanged a meaningful look. "Are you telling me that my system couldn't crack that encryption code?" Bill asked, frowning.

Laura smiled bitterly. "Oh, yes, it can, but you need to know what you're doing."

"Can you tell us where this information was going to be transported _to_?" Heller tried to keep his tone neutral. "Perhaps it was going to be taken off site?"

"That's the conclusion we came to also, sir," replied Laura. She turned and spoke quietly to a young member of her team. "Jane here discovered a code that was entered into Ms. O'Brian's system, in order to allow both internal and external access on any machine."

"Would this code also allow files to be re-routed?"

Everyone looked up at Tony's words, spoken with such urgency that something clicked in Bill's mind. As Laura nodded, Bill found himself recalling the break down report of the previous day; how he had asked Chloe to send it multiple times after never actually receiving it. "This is starting to make sense," he murmured.

Jane spoke up. "What is interesting about this code is that we were able to trace it back to its point of origin. It was created with someone who knows, or at least knew, the systems in place here-"

"Which Ms. O'Brian does," Heller interjected.

"Yes, but we were also able to find out the exact computer used _inside _CTU to enter the code into the system."

"Tell us," Tony demanded.

Jane took a breath. "It came from a PC that no CTU agent has access to." Her gaze fell on Secretary Heller. "It was via the Department of Defence workstation."

…

She rang the number twice more, just to be certain. The phone sitting on the table vibrated manically, threatening to fall to the floor. Michelle shut off the call but could still hear the peals of the ring tone echoing in her ears. Beside her, the lab tech threw her a curious look. "Got what you were looking for?" She regarded him wearily. "Yes, thank you." She picked up her jacket and, placing it over her shoulders, walked briskly from the room. So lost in thought was she that she almost collided with Jack as he stormed down the rear stairwell.

"Jack!"

He spun to face her, already halfway to the main doors. Michelle took a few steps towards him. "Jack, is Audrey with you?" She saw him visibly tense. "No. She was a few minutes ago." Jack stared impatiently towards the bullpen. "Why?"

"I have to tell you something." She moved past him and held the door. "We need to get this to Bill right away," she added, holding up Audrey's cell phone. Jack blinked at her. "This is Audrey's."

"Yes." She matched Jack's strides easily. "Jack, she's been in contact with Russell. I ran a check to prove it."

His jaw clenched. "Go on."

"I didn't have a chance to tell you earlier but I have also overheard her making phone calls. She said something about a code-"

"The code on Chloe's system!" Jack threw the door to the Director's office open and stepped inside, Michelle close behind. He was met by the curious stares of the rest of the team. "What's going on?" he demanded.

Michelle cut in. "Audrey has been in contact with Mark Russell, as recently as yesterday." She looked pointedly at Bill. "And now we don't know where she is."

"Will someone please tell me what the hell-"

Sensing the rapidly darkening atmosphere, Laura motioned for her team to leave the room. Bill waited until they had gone and began to speak, but Heller got there first. "It seems my daughter has had us all fooled, Jack." Bill nodded grimly. "Division took apart the hard drive Curtis found. Seems it was being used to store information on Phoenix. Audrey was responsible for the code in Chloe's system, which gave Russell a carte blanche to anything Chloe accessed."

Jack was already at the door. "She was with me a few minutes ago… we need to get to Chloe," he said desperately.

Tony snatched up the desk phone. "I'll alert Curtis. He's still keeping watch outside her holding room."

…

Audrey stepped out of the shadows and faced the expanse of hallway stretching out before her. It was empty, save for the solitary figure of Curtis standing guard outside the holding rooms. Feeling a surge of confidence, Audrey composed herself and made her way towards him. "Curtis," she called, raising a hand. The agent twisted to face her, but didn't move. "Audrey," he called back, nodding. "Everything alright?"

She smiled, sizing him up. Of the team, she knew Curtis the least well, but she liked to think she was a pretty good judge of character. He seemed as though he could easily be persuaded to move away from the door; he wasn't as stubborn as Jack or as wary as Tony. "I need to speak with Chloe," she told him.

Curtis frowned. "I can't let anyone in without Bill or Secretary Heller present."

Audrey sighed. "Curtis, I am Secretary Heller's daughter. He sent me because he himself is too busy filling the President in on everything that's been happening around here." She wondered if her tone had been too severe. Sure enough, Curtis started shaking his head. "I'm sorry, Audrey. Perhaps I can phone Bill?" He dug into his shirt pocket for his cell, only to have it start ringing the moment he held it in his hand. "Excuse me," he muttered to a now irritated Audrey. Still not giving up his position, Curtis flipped the phone open and spoke into it. "This is Manning."

Tony's voice sounded urgently down the line. "Curtis, it's Tony. Are you alone?"

"No," he replied, sensing the need to keep the phone call private.

"Is Audrey with you?"

"Yes."

"Stall her. She's been trying to set Chloe up; we're on our way now." The line disconnected and the dial tone filled Curtis's ear. Slowly shutting his phone, he glanced around to find the hallway deserted. Thinking quickly, he retrieved his weapon and, releasing the safety catch, began walking away from the holding room.

A noise behind him told him his instincts had been right. He heard the sound of fingertips on the key pad, the cursing as the door refused to unlock. Stepping once more into the main hallway, Curtis raised his gun. "I wouldn't do that if I were you, Audrey."

Her head snapped up. Curtis could see the hatred blazing behind her once calm green eyes. "Let me in here," she told him, her voice cold, devoid of feeling.

"I can't do that."

Slowly, a bitter smile spread over her face. "Fine. But I'll tell you something, Curtis. I misjudged you. My father will not be happy when he finds out that another one of Bill Buchanan's agents has been hindering this investigation." She moved away from the door and away from him.

"Going somewhere?"

Curtis saw Audrey freeze, now unsure. Her earlier façade had left her, rendering her vulnerable. She started back towards him, but one look at the gun and she faltered, trapped.

Before him appeared the very welcome figure of Bill Buchanan, flanked on one side by Jack and the other by Tony and Michelle.

"If anyone is hindering this investigation, Audrey, it's you." Bill spoke calmly, crisply. Beside him, Michelle stepped forward. "I think you were looking for this earlier," she said, holding out the other woman's cell phone. Audrey's eyes widened and she backed away. "This isn't what it looks like," she stuttered. "Jack, I swear-"

"Don't even try, Audrey."

Tears leaked down her cheeks. She looked to Curtis. "Curtis, please, you know I wouldn't do something like this."

"What is it exactly that you've done?" Curtis felt a presence to his left. He lowered his weapon as he recognised the smooth tones of the Secretary of Defence. The older man stepped in front of him. Audrey swiped at her tears and looked beseechingly at her father. "Daddy, please…"

"No, I don't think so, Audrey." He looked up at Bill, his expression stony. "Take her into custody and release Ms. O'Brian at once."

"Gladly," muttered Bill. He nodded at Tony and Curtis. "Take her into holding room four."

The agents didn't need telling twice. Holstering his weapon, Curtis joined Tony and together they hauled Audrey to her feet and away from the rest of the group. Defeated, she slumped against them, too tired to even walk.

Holding room four was a little way away from the main holding rooms; its main purpose serving as a back up for when the other rooms were full. Audrey didn't struggle. Tony all but threw her into the chair and handcuffed her to the table, slamming the door behind him and shooting her a pitying, disdainful look as he did so.

…

Heller watched sadly as his daughter was led away down the hall. "I had no idea…"

Bill placed an awkward hand on the other man's shoulder. "None of us did. Look, I'm going to leave her in there a few minutes while I prep for the interrogation… did you want to use my office? Maybe take a break?"

"No, it's okay, Bill. But thank you. I really must call the President. And I would like to be in on the interrogation."

"Absolutely."

Buchanan turned to his remaining agents. "Michelle, take that phone down to the tech room and pull everything off it. I want to use it when I question Audrey. Also, get hold of the phone records for the Omega building within the last month; maybe Russell was stupid enough to record them." Michelle nodded and disappeared past them, leaving the three men alone. "Jack." Bill moved away from the Secretary and began keying in the reconfigured door release code. "Get Chloe out of that damned room and make sure she's okay." Beeping sounded and he pushed the door open. A little way from them, Heller began speaking in hushed tones into his cell phone. "I want you to take her home," Bill continued. "We're fine here, and both of you have been through hell."

Jack nodded and slipped quietly into the room. He waited until Bill had closed the door before moving over to the glass and peering through it. Chloe appeared to be asleep; her head was resting on folded arms, her hair draped across the table. A small smile tugging at his lips, Jack typed in the second code and motioned for the security guard to leave. "How is she?" he asked, his eyes never leaving her.

"Pretty shaken up," the guard admitted. "Am I, uh, not needed now?"

"No, it's okay. Chloe's being released." Jack's voice shook but he fought to control it. "Thanks." The guy nodded and walked from the room.

During their brief conversation, Chloe hadn't stirred. Now they were alone, Jack crept over to her and crouched down by her chair. "Chloe?" Slowly, she lifted her head and blinked furiously. Pushing her hair from her eyes, she frowned, struggling to focus. "Jack?"

"I'm here," he whispered, hesitating before taking her hand. Her eyes widened. "You're okay… you're really okay," she murmured. "The bomb… did it go off? I heard they brought Mark Russell in but no one would tell me how you were… I thought…" She trailed off. "What's going on, Jack?"

He told her. Never having been able to keep secrets from this woman, he told her everything, right down to how Audrey had tried to break into the holding room. "She's in custody," he finished. "Bill wants me to take you home."

Chloe got unsteadily to her feet, Jack's hand never leaving hers. "No. I'm not going home."

"Chloe, I-"

"No, Jack. I want to finish this. I'm going to go help Michelle," she said decisively. He released her hand and stood back. "Are you coming?" she asked.

"Yes, I just… I'm sorry, Chloe. I'm sorry for what she did to you."

"It wasn't your fault. She hurt you too, Jack."

He followed her back out into the hallway. "Michelle's in the tech room," he offered, not wanting to leave her side. "I'll be… with Bill."

Chloe hesitated. "Jack… I'm sorry, too."

"What for?"

She sighed. "If I didn't… if we hadn't… last night… then this…"

"Are you saying you regret it?"

"No, I just… don't think it's a good idea. Not now." Taking a breath to steady herself, Chloe averted her eyes from the pain she now saw flooding his. "I'm sorry," she repeated. Not trusting her emotions, Chloe turned away from him and towards the tech rooms, not looking back once. She knew he wouldn't come after her because she'd silently asked him not to.

…

"Is everything okay, Chloe?" Michelle knew the question was stupid, but she couldn't help but feel as though something else was bothering Chloe, aside from the fact that the daughter of the Secretary of Defence had tried to frame her for aiding a terrorist. The two women were walking back from the tech room, having pulled off all they could find on Audrey's cell phone. Michelle still had the item in her pocket; it was an unwelcome burden which she longed to hand over to Bill once and for all.

As expected, Chloe's answer was brief. "I'm fine," she muttered, which immediately told Michelle that she was anything but.

"Sorry, stupid question."

"No, it's not that, I…"

Michelle didn't push. She knew Chloe would be unlikely to tell her the cause of whatever was bothering her; she was lucky to have gotten that much out of her in the first place. "Will you be watching the interrogation?" she asked, changing tack.

"I don't know," Chloe replied, shrugging. The rounded the now all too familiar hallway housing the holding rooms and slowed their pace as they approached the rest of the team. Heller was stood a little way away from them, still talking into his cell phone. He looked up as the women arrived, and quickly ended the call.

Ten minutes had passed since Audrey had been placed in holding. The interrogation that was about to follow was routine; she would be taken onto the DOD for further questioning. Bill ensured that everyone was clear on this before continuing. "Michelle, I'd like you with me, questioning Audrey. Have you got everything I asked you for?"

Gratefully, Michelle passed over the phone and the papers she and Chloe had retrieved. "Some phone calls he _did _record," she added by way of explanation as Bill thumbed through the lists. Finally, he looked up. "Tony, Curtis, I want you to see if you can get anything else out of Russell."

"You got it," Curtis nodded, moving to stand nearer to the door.

"Okay." Bill sighed. "Jack, Chloe… are you observing?" He decided against asking them to go home, but refused to include them directly in the interrogations. He watched as they exchanged a pained glance. It was Jack who spoke first. "I'll sit in on the Russell interview."

"Then I guess I'll watch Audrey," Chloe said, almost immediately.

Michelle's eyes flicked to Tony, who shrugged. Curtis looked equally perplexed. Bill however chose not to address the issue and began walking towards holding four. "I want an update in an hour," he called, waiting until Tony, Curtis and Jack had disappeared before unlocking the room.

They filed in wordlessly, Heller taking the seat nearest to the door. Uncomfortably, Chloe sat next to him, and they waited.


	14. Chapter 13

I just want to thank everyone who has commented on this fic and helped spur me on!! This isn't the end; I promise there will be an epilogue.

A/N- the italics are flashbacks. I hope it's not confusing!

**_Mutual Purposes- Chapter Thirteen_**

"_Have you any luck with that chip yet?"_

_Tony rubbed his neck and looked up gratefully from the computer screen he'd been staring at for the past six hours. As he sipped his lukewarm coffee, he shook his head. "Nowhere near close yet," he muttered, cursing as another 'access denied' icon flashed before him. "Whoever configured this is good, very good."_

"_Which is why we need to catch him, fast."_

_Mark spoke up before Tony could even open his mouth. "We're all aware of the time pressure, Jack." He walked over to Tony and frowned at the computer. "May I?"_

_Tony pushed back his chair and stood up. "Be my guest." He moved over to the couch where Jack was sat, apparently lost in his own thoughts. "Don't let it get to you," he advised quietly, one eye on Mark as the younger agent typed away at the keyboard. "He's just eager to please Chappelle."_

"_Yeah, I had noticed," Jack said quietly, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I think I'm starting to go stir crazy in here."_

"_You and me both," Tony agreed, draining the rest of his drink and placing the mug down amongst the growing pile of dirty crockery now littering the coffee table. "This place looks like a frat party gone bad. If Chappelle could see it he'd yank us now, no questions asked."_

"_Well, he's not going to see it," Mark announced, a triumphant grin on his face._

"_Meaning?"_

"_Meaning, guys, that I have hacked into this chip."_

_Jack almost knocked over the couch as he stood and strode across the room. "What have you found?"_

"_Here, look." Mark pointed to a series of numbers. "See that? Seems as though our guy has been transferring a lot of money these past few months, to various off shore and domestic accounts. It's a clear link to the influx of military grade weapons into the country." He sat back and looked at his colleagues. "It seems our time together is almost at an end."_

"_Don't sound so upset," Tony smirked, scrolling through the details. Beside him, Jack had fallen silent once more. "Something wrong, Jack?" asked Mark._

"_Omega," he said finally. "The Omega building down town. Ryan always thought it was the hub of activity; now we know it is."_

"_How'd you figure that?"_

"_The Omega houses one of the city's largest banks, as well as other offices. It's the most likely place they would use to transfer the money within the country, or perhaps keep it until it's ready to be wired abroad."_

_Mark wasn't convinced. "But it's right under our noses."_

"_Exactly." Tony moved to the window of the small apartment and peered out. "All this time, we've been working and living in its shadow." The Omega building, a relatively new structure amid the bustle of a thriving business complex, towered over the smaller buildings in its vicinity._

"_But I still don't see how you know this," Mark protested. "Nowhere on this screen does it say 'Omega building, downtown Los Angeles.'"_

"_That's because you're looking too hard for something that isn't there. Sometimes the answers aren't on the computer; you have to think between the lines."_

"_Oh, and you would be the expert on that, would you Jack?"_

"_Hey, come on." Tony stepped between them and held up his hands. "Now is not the time for this." He shot a warning look at Jack. "We need to call Chappelle, have him verify this intel and clear a back up team."_

"_Fine. I'll call Chappelle." Mark stood abruptly and disappeared into the next room, shutting the door sharply behind him._

"_I don't like him, Tony," Jack muttered, as soon as the other agent was out of ear shot. "He's too sure of himself."_

"_Remind you of anyone?"_

"_By that you mean me."_

_Tony sighed. "Come on, Jack. The guy's not been here long. He's a hot shot. I'm not so fond of him either but right now we've got to work with him."_

"_That's a yes then," Jack said, managing a small smile. "I know that's what you thought of me for a long time."_

"_Yeah, but you weren't a new guy. You were just a pain in the ass; you still are."_

"_Thanks."_

"_Any time."_

…

"Jack and I didn't exactly… get on," Mark concluded. "Just so you know," he added to Curtis, "I see a lot of Tony in you. He never did say much when Jack was around."

"I suggest you cut the crap and keep talking," Tony hissed.

"I've already told all of this to Bill Buchanan," Mark replied calmly. "Which reminds me, what the hell happened to Chappelle?"

Tony closed his eyes to steady his temper. "You and I both know you haven't told Bill anything of any importance. So, why don't you tell me? I'm sure the guys over at the DOD won't be so… understanding." He placed emphasis on the final word for the other man's benefit. "Because that's where you're going, after this."

"What could the DOD possibly want with me?"

Curtis leaned forward. "We know you have been working very closely with Audrey Raines over at least the last month, helping each other to extract information on both CTU and the DOD. Why don't you tell us about it?"

Mark ignored the question and refocused his attention on Tony. "Chappelle?" he repeated.

"He was killed in the line of duty," Tony replied quietly, his mind briefly flashing back to the day where Jack had been forced to take the former Director's life. No doubt in the next room, Jack was recalling the same memory.

"Oh. When?"

"Does it matter?"

"He was a good man," Mark said sincerely.

"Only because he believed your bullshit about the fire," Tony spat, his anger getting the better of him. "Tell me something, Mark. If Ryan were sat here now, do you think he'd be singing your praises this time around?"

Mark smirked. "Probably not."

"So, keep talking."

…

"_CTU, this is Almeida, we're good to go, ready when you are."_

"_Tony, this is Ryan Chappelle, do not move, I repeat, do not move until you have a visual on the suspect."_

"_Copy that." Tony relayed the message to Russell, who was stationed out of sight at the opposite end of the hallway, concealed in the entrance to the rear stairway with a group of three men from Delta Three. "We can't move until we've got a visual," he muttered, hitting his fist against the wall. "Chappelle is too damn cautious; we need to get in there."_

_Jack kept his eyes focussed on the solid wooden door only metres from them. No one had come in or out since their arrival thirty minutes previous. Of course, it was always possible that their suspect was watching them from surveillance separate to that of the building's central monitoring system, but they'd had to take a chance. They were on the eleventh and topmost floor, rendering all other escape routes other than the door useless. "How long exactly did he say we had to wait?"_

"_You know Chappelle; he'll keep us here all day if he has to. We don't even know if he's in there."_

"_Oh, he's in there. And he knows we're out here. He's waiting for us to go to him."_

"_Then we keep the son of a bitch waiting."_

"_My thoughts exactly."_

_Mark's voice crackled over the radio. "This is Russell. Moving in on the count of three."_

_Tony's eyes widened. Jack grabbed up his radio and all but shouted into it. "No! Mark, you do not move unless Chappelle or I give the direct order."_

"_Then give it." The tone was challenging, defiant. In Tony's ear, Chappelle began voicing his own opposition. "Jack, I swear to God, if you give the go ahead now-"_

"_I'm trying to stop him!" Jack muttered. "Mark, this is Jack. Do not move. That is an order."_

_Gunshots met his request. Too late, Jack and Tony moved forward, to see Mark and his team moving quickly towards them. He had the door kicked down and their target surrounded before Jack could take a step inside the room. His eyes locked with Mark's and all other noise faded away. The other man's eyes were like ice, filled with pure hatred. "Screw you, Bauer."_

"_Tony, what the hell is going on down there?" shrieked Ryan. "Tell me Jack did not just disobey an order again."_

"_No, Ryan, Jack didn't. Mark did." Tony shut off the radio and aimed his gun at his colleague. "Tell me what's going on here, Mark."_

_Seeing his chance, their hostage made a move towards the door. Mark wasted no time in raising his own weapon and emptying three bullets into the man's chest. Jack lunged at him. "We needed him alive!" He searched frantically for a pulse in the man now lying stock still on the floor, and found none. "You've just ruined it," he said quietly, getting to his feet. "Everything we worked for ruined." He looked towards the computer humming softly on the desk. "You better hope we can get something off that or-"_

_Jack did not finish his sentence. Around them, bombs that had been wired in various places along the wall started to go off, obscuring their vision. Somewhere behind him, Tony cursed. He himself could not believe he hadn't seen the bombs when they'd first entered the room, but Mark's actions had thrown everything else to the back of his mind. Thinking quickly, Jack dove forward and grabbed the computer from the desk, shoving it roughly at Tony. "Get this outside!" he yelled. Tony passed the equipment on to a waiting agent, who ran from the room. The smoke from the bombs was quickly rising, and Jack could feel an almost oppressive heat emanating from the corner of the room._

"_Fire!" someone shouted; in the chaos that ensued, Jack wasn't sure who. All he knew was that Mark was somewhere in the room, further away from the door than he and Tony, and he needed to get him out. He yelled the other agent's name, but to no avail. Tony pushed past him and together they ventured further into what was left of the room. The fire was spreading quickly; Jack could hear the fire alarm's shrill ring over the roar of the flames and prayed that the building could be evacuated quickly enough._

"_Mark!" he shouted again, coughing against the smoke that filled his lungs. He saw Tony grab his arm as though in pain. "He's not here, Jack," he shouted, backing away from the worst of the flames until he reached Jack's side. "He's not here."_

"_He has to be! There's no other way out!" Together they ran back into the hall and surveyed the charred remains of the upper floor. "The only way he could have gotten out is if he had gone past us, and he didn't," Tony reasoned. Jack risked a look at his friend's arm to see a nasty burn running almost its entire length. "He's gone, Jack."_

"_No…"_

"_Yes. Listen to me. Jack! This is not your fault. He disobeyed an order to spite you-"_

"_He didn't deserve to die!" He took a step back into the room but Tony pulled him back. "We've looked for him, Jack." He coughed violently. "We need to get the hell out of here, now."_

_Jack knew he was right, but a part of him would not admit it. He also knew that Chappelle would hold him personally responsible for Mark's death, which is why he hesitated before following Tony down the fire escape stairs. As he looked back into what remained of the office, he thought he saw a flash of blue just outside the window, but then the flames surged forward, and it was gone._

…

A stunned silence followed. "The outer fire exit?" Tony asked, incredulous.

"No." Mark smiled. "There was a ledge just outside the window. I saw it as soon as we entered the room. I figured it must have run quite a way around the building, and I was right."

"But you couldn't have known that," Curtis interjected. "You could have fallen."

"Yes, I could have, couldn't I? It was a risk I was willing to take; either way, it was going to look as though Jack and Tony had left me behind. And they had no way of proving that I'd jumped out of the window."

"You sick son of a bitch."

"Jack!" So engrossed in Mark's story, Tony had failed to see or hear the connecting door open and Jack appear in the room. Now he was taking threatening steps towards Russell, who shook his head in amazement. "Still got that temper of yours I see," he laughed, watching as Tony grabbed Jack's arm. "Don't do it, Jack. He's not worth it."

Jack paused, jaw clenched. "I saw you," he said finally, shaking free of Tony's grip.

"What do you mean, you saw me?"

"Outside the window. But I wasn't sure if it was you. The fire was pretty bad."

"I know, I was there, remember?"

"Why didn't you say anything?" Tony demanded, rounding on his friend.

"I never got the chance," Jack replied angrily. "Chappelle wasn't going to listen, and you and I weren't allowed in the same room as each other until I got moved to Chicago."

Tony considered this, nodding finally. "Okay."

"What I want to know," Curtis mused, "is how you got out of the building?"

"I was wondering when you would ask. So, this ledge. I followed it to the end of the building, and by some miracle found an open window. The fire hadn't yet spread that far, so I climbed in and walked back through into the hall. I was at the end of the hallway I'd started from," he told Tony, who nodded. "I couldn't see anything, and the fire was quickly coming my way, so I took the nearest route out of there."

"Which would have been the rear stairs," Jack muttered.

"Yes."

"Then what?"

"Then I waited."

…

_Chappelle trudged wearily down the corridor leading to the medical unit, taking a few moments to compose himself before he grilled Russell on his side of the story. Even he had to admit that the idea of agents leaving their friend behind to die left a bitter taste in his mouth. He knew the fire had been bad; he'd seen it both on the news and on the satellite feeds he'd been monitoring. He also knew it was a miracle that anyone got out of the building alive. _

_One glance through the door told him that Mark was awake and able to talk. Closing his eyes and counting to ten, Ryan entered the room and motioned for the doctor to leave. "How are you feeling?" he asked Mark, who was struggling to adjust the sling he'd been given for his arm._

"_Like I've just been in a fire," the agent replied dryly. He shrugged. "Hey, it could have been worse. I could be dead."_

"_Yeah." Chappelle grabbed a chair and sat down so that he was facing the other man. "I've just spoken to Jack and Tony. They say you weren't there; they looked for you."_

"_And you believe them?"_

"_To be honest with you, Mark, I don't know what to believe. I know you disobeyed a direct order from both Jack and myself, and as a result we lost the only key suspect in this case. As it is, the computer Jack managed to retrieve has given us more than enough evidence to go after these guys and put a stop to what they're doing for good."_

"_I didn't disobey an order," Mark retorted, briefly allowing the news to sink in; the mission hadn't been a complete failure or a waste of time, after all. "Jack told me to go in."_

_Chappelle frowned. "Oh? I was under the impression that we both gave the stand down order."_

"_You did," Mark agreed, "but Jack didn't. As soon as you'd finished telling Tony what you wanted us to do, he relayed it to me, but Jack didn't want to do it. He thought it was too risky; waiting in the hallway for so long. He and Tony started arguing about it. Tony wasn't happy; Jack wanted to go in but Tony wanted to wait, just like you said. I heard yelling but I couldn't see them properly because I was stationed at the opposite end of the hallway."_

_Chappelle took a breath, not completely surprised by what he was being told. "Go on."_

"_The next thing I knew, Jack was moving towards the door. Tony and I had no choice but to follow him. That's when I gave the order for the Delta team to move."_

_There were a few minutes of silence as the Director digested the news. Mark stood up. "Listen, Mr Chappelle, if you want me to leave, then just tell me and I'll go."_

"_No, no there will be no need for that." Chappelle laughed bitterly. "They lied to me. I know Bauer's history; I should have known that he'd try to overrule my authority!"_

"_What are you going to do?" Mark asked hesitantly._

"_I just don't know yet," the older man answered tiredly. "But I know one thing; Bauer will not be working here by the end of next week." He stood and walked briskly from the room, not noticing the small smile playing across Mark's face._

…

"Where is my father? I want him present. If you won't give me a lawyer at least let me see my father!"

"Your father was the one who ordered me not to call you a lawyer," Bill responded coolly. "Although I hasten to add that I wasn't entertaining the idea myself."

Michelle tucked her chair in closer to the table. "Why did you do it?" she asked quietly, hoping that maybe coming from a woman it would prompt Audrey to be slightly more forthcoming. The blonde shook her head. "I don't have to explain myself to you."

"You will explain yourself whether you like it or not, Audrey." Bill held up her cell phone. "We pulled everything off this that links you to Russell. Furthermore, a team from Division were able to tell us that you used the DOD terminal to enter in a code that would ultimately harm Chloe's system."

She cast her eyes downwards. "Yes, I did do that."

"Please tell me why. And could you explain this?" Bill pushed a piece of paper towards her. Audrey recognised the search papers she had shown him only hours earlier. "You know what these are."

"Let's say I don't."

"Bill…" Audrey's shoulders sagged. "Please… don't do this."

"It's either here or at the DOD. Your choice."

She took a deep breath. "I forged that document. I never did call the DOD and ask them to run a check on the systems, because they weren't hacked. I gave Mark Russell access."

"How?"

"About a month ago, I met with him. He'd called me; said he knew about my relationship with Jack and said that I had connections that could help him." Audrey paused. "During the phone conversation he asked if I knew of anyone, other than myself, who was close to Jack. I thought of Tony, you," she told Michelle, "but then I thought of Chloe."

…

_Chloe winced as she heard the sound of shouting floating down from Jack's office. Glancing around, she was sure that other people had heard it too; across the floor, she saw Tony raise his head and glance almost sadly up at the glass walls of the office. It wasn't the first time it had happened; that much she knew. She'd been unlucky enough to witness another argument only the previous day. Audrey was about to head out to Washington for a conference with her father and she wanted Jack to go with her. Jack didn't want to go, and Audrey wasn't happy with this. No doubt she had chosen yet another inappropriate moment in which to berate Jack for his decision._

_Suddenly, the office door flew open and Audrey came storming out, apparently in floods of tears. Chloe saw Michelle get wearily to her feet, rolling her eyes at Tony as she made her way after the sobbing woman. She heard Michelle call after her and quicken her pace as Audrey headed for the women's bathroom, and then a blessed silence fell across the floor. Tony and Curtis resumed their discussion; Bill paused on his way up the stairs, deciding that now probably wasn't a good time to ask Jack to go over some revised protocols._

_Chloe, however, got to her feet. She walked quickly to the break room, fixing up a coffee from her secret stash behind the breadbin and adding just a touch of milk. Grabbing up both mugs, she made her way towards his office, knowing full well that he may just throw her back out again. But she was willing to take the chance._

_The door was closed but she didn't bother knocking. Nor did he look up as she entered. He was sat at his desk. Outwardly, he seemed unfazed by Audrey's tantrum, but Chloe knew that inside he was close to breaking. "Drink this," she said, plonking the cream mug down before him and closing the door. He stared at her stupidly. "I'm not going until you've drunk it, so get drinking," she told him, perching awkwardly in the desk chair, feeling less confident with every passing minute._

_A smile gradually appeared on his face, and he picked up the mug. "Coffee," he said, eyebrow raised. It wasn't even a question._

"_Naturally."_

_Jack took a sip and she saw him relax somewhat. "Thank you."_

"_It's only coffee," she shrugged, sipping frantically at her own, now well aware that she had probably outstayed her welcome. "Look, I'd better get back on the floor, I just wanted to… never mind." She blushed furiously. "If you don't want to go to Washington, then don't go," she said hurriedly, stumbling over her words and avoiding his eyes._

"_I'm not going," he told her, regarding her curiously._

"_Oh, then… good."_

"_This isn't the rubbish out of the break room, is it?" he asked, changing the subject. "Because it's too good."_

_Chloe shook her head. "No, I bring it in from home. It's just supermarket stuff, you know. You could probably buy it yourself."_

"_Audrey doesn't like coffee," he said quietly._

"_Oh," she said simply, unsure as to what her reaction was supposed to be. She drained her cup, ignoring the still scalding hot liquid as it burned her throat. "I'm going now."_

"_I haven't finished," he reminded her, nodding to the mug which was indeed still half full._

"_I trust you to drink the rest of it," she replied, smiling. She opened the door and almost walked into Audrey. "Oh, hey… sorry," she muttered, standing aside. Her eyes met Jack's and he smiled. "Thank you," he mouthed._

"_You're welcome," she whispered, lingering long enough to catch a distasteful look from Audrey as she seated herself across from Jack. "Was there something else you needed, Chloe?" she asked, her voice bordering on annoyance. "Jack and I have things to discuss."_

_Chloe bit her tongue. "No," she replied finally. "I was just leaving."_

…

There was no doubt in Michelle's mind as to the motives behind the whole situation. "You were jealous."

Bill stared between the two women as they faced each other. "Jealous?"

"I hardly see how this is relevant," Audrey announced, shaking her head. "He needed someone close to Jack; I chose Chloe."

"What about the watch?" Michelle persisted. "How did you get hold of that? Was it Chloe's? Or did you lie about that, too?"

Audrey's eyes flicked to Bill in desperation. "Answer the questions, Audrey," he said quietly. "I'm sure Chloe would like to know."

"Chloe's _watching?_"

"Yes, she is."

She let out a short laugh. "Fine. I'll tell you about the watch." She shifted as best as she could in her seat until she was facing the mirror. "I took it," she said simply. "That day you wore it, but took it off because it was uncomfortable? I found it on your desk and kept it."

"But why?" Bill demanded incredulously, shocked at how willingly Audrey had given up the information. "I don't understand, Audrey. First you say you won't talk, and then as soon as Michelle asks you about Chloe, you can't wait to tell us what happened."

The blonde fell silent.

"What I don't understand is why Mark even _needed _Chloe in the first place. I'm sure that if he wanted to get in to CTU badly enough, he would have," Michelle mused.

"He said he'd been planning it for years; I assume ever since this fire at the Omega building happened," Audrey muttered sullenly. "He told me he needed someone who worked on the inside, other than me, who could be used to help him gain access into the systems."

"When did he tell you this?"

"The first time he called me, at the DOD office. I was in DC at the time for a conference; ask my father." She hesitated. "He asked if we could meet."

Bill nodded. "That would have been the first time you met him," he said quietly. Then, louder, he asked, "Where did you meet?"

"In a run down hotel." Audrey wrinkled her nose at the memory. "The same hotel that he planted the first bomb in; the decoy."

…

"_Russell, this is CTU, do you copy?"_

_Mark pressed a hand to his ear piece. "This is Russell."_

"_Okay, we have three targets to your left… you need to go in hot." Ryan Chappelle emphasised every word. "We have zero, and I mean zero, margin for error here."_

"_You said that already."_

_Chappelle sighed audibly. "You might have Bauer's job, Russell, but you're not him. His back chat I could deal with; I don't need you imitating him."_

_Mark remained quiet, motioning instead for his tac team to move in on command. The targets were in clear view; he could take them out alone but that would be too easy. On the count of three, he and his men moved forward, closing in. They didn't bother to be quiet; their heavy footsteps alerted the guards to their presence and too late they spun round, hands only halfway to their weapons. Once they were dealt with, Mark moved further into the compound, towards his final destination as a CTU agent. Behind him, the men followed obediently, their eyes and ears open. At the last minute, they spotted the timer and turned to flee. Mark made as though to move with them, but instead ducked behind a conveniently placed concrete block. Someone shouted for him but he hid himself further, knowing he was fully protected from the blast._

_Only when the final clouds of smoke began to settle did he move. He walked out of the compound, or what was left of it, and began walking._

…

"_What do you mean, he's dead?"_

_Tony waited impatiently as the tac teams relayed their position. Beside him, Chappelle sank into a vacant chair and held his head in his hands. "The place was rigged with bombs… Russell's dead."_

"_Are you sure?"_

_Chappelle laughed bitterly. "What do you mean, Almeida? Am I sure? Yes, I'm sure. This isn't like last time."_

"_So what the hell do we do now?"_

_The Director threw up his hands in defeat. "I had Larry Johnson from Chicago on the phone only this morning; turns out Jack's pissed off pretty much everyone. Looks like I'll have to bring him back in." His eyes bored into Tony's. "But don't you think you'll be getting your job back, Almeida. And I'll be keeping a close eye on the pair of you."_

…

"I planned it for a long time. I knew that operation was important; it was supposed to be my biggest assignment since becoming the head of field ops." Mark smiled wryly. "For the entire six months that I had the job, I was looking for a way to take this place down, and that was my opportunity," he concluded, folding his arms across his chest and sitting back in the chair. "Everything from then until now, you know about."

"Not exactly," Jack countered. "Where were you for three and a half years? Are you telling me you were at the Omega for all that time?"

"No, I moved around a bit. I wasn't sure then _what _exactlyI was going to do. I was in Canada for a while, then Europe. I heard through one of my contacts that you left CTU briefly, went to Washington and met the lovely Ms. Raines. Tell me, Jack. Why would you fall for someone like Chloe O'Brian, when you already had Audrey?"

Jack was across the room before Tony and Curtis could get out of their chairs. It took both of them to pull him off Russell, who rubbed at his neck while resuming his seat. "Fair question," he said, watching as Tony shoved Jack into the next room, returning moments later on his own. Curtis shook his head. "You're going to prison, Mark. We're not having a friendly chat over a couple of beers. Stop stalling and finish what you were telling us."

"There's not much left to tell."

"Then I suggest you talk fast," Tony muttered, looking at his watch. "Your time's almost up."

"You've changed," Mark murmured, almost inaudibly.

"We all have," Tony corrected him. "Some more than others."

"I always knew Jack would come back to Los Angeles. After I 'died', I mean," Mark explained. He was drained, tired, and it showed. "He never could leave this place alone. Same when he went to Washington. I knew then that that was my chance. I called in a few favours and ended up with the top job down at the Omega. It's within good distance of this place. Audrey Raines was just a means to an end."

"Did you sleep with her?" Tony asked quietly.

"No."

He let out a breath and turned to Curtis. "I think that's all we need." Curtis nodded and started to stand when Russell spoke. "I know you think I'm just another terrorist, Tony, but I promise you I'm not."

Tony didn't respond. He joined Curtis at the door and indicated for the waiting security guard to enter. "Get him out of my sight."

…

_Audrey put down her pen and tidied away the neat pile of papers on her desk, filing them smoothly into the top drawer. "I think I'll go get some lunch," she announced, reaching behind her for her purse. "You want anything, Martin?"_

"_No thanks, Audrey."_

"_Okay, I'll see you in ten." She was almost out of the office when her desk phone began to ring. "Damn it. Always when you want to take a break!" she joked, returning to her work station and picking up the receiver. Martin smiled politely as he left the room, closing the door behind him to give Audrey some privacy. "This is Audrey Raines," she greeted, anxious to be away._

"_Audrey Raines, this is Mark Russell. Is this line secure?"_

_She frowned, thrown by his question. "Yes, but, do I know you? And how did you get this number?"_

"_No, and don't worry about that; the important thing is that I have it, and we're talking." Something in his tone compelled her to sit back down and take notice. "What do you want?"_

"_I need your help. It concerns Jack Bauer."_

"_What about him? Is he okay?"_

"_Relax, Ms Raines, he's fine. I need you to get something for me. I'm a former agent; I worked for CTU under Ryan Chappelle about four years ago."_

"_Go on."_

"_I heard that the two of you are… close."_

"_What business is that of yours?"_

"_Oh, none at all. It will just make things easier, that's all."_

"_What things?"_

_There was a pause on the other end of the line. "Look, whoever you are, I haven't got the time for games, so whatever it is you want-"_

"_I'm meant to be dead," he interrupted her. His words had the desired effect as Audrey raised her hand to her mouth and gasped. "Ms. Raines, please, hear me out. I wasn't treated very well by CTU; I want to make them pay for what they did to me."_

_Against her better judgement, Audrey found herself obliged to listen. She waited._

"_I am meant to be dead," he repeated, quieter this time. "About three and a half years ago I faked my own death and went into hiding. Six months before that, I worked with Jack and a guy called Tony Almeida on the Phoenix-Omega mission. Have you heard of that?"_

"_No, I can't say I have," she replied slowly, thinking back. "I didn't know Jack then and most parts of his files are highly classified, as I'm sure you know."_

"_Yes, quite." He cleared his throat. "The mission ended badly. There was a fire, and they left me to die." He smiled as he heard her sharp intake of breath. "Jack wouldn't-" she began, but he cut her off. "Oh, I assure you that Jack would," he continued. "At least, that's what I told Ryan Chappelle."_

"_You mean, he didn't leave you to die?" She sounded somewhat relieved by the revelation. "But then, why-"_

"_Please, Ms Raines, don't bother yourself with the technicalities." He knew she was dangerously close to ending the call and spoke quickly. "I need your help because you are close to Jack, and have good connections because of who you are and what you do." _

_Audrey laughed. "Mr Russell, I work for the Secretary of Defence. Whatever it is you think I can do for you, you are sadly mistaken."_

"_I need you to find me someone else, then."_

"_Find them yourself."_

"_I don't think you quite understand me."_

"_I understand you perfectly. I am hanging up now, please don't call me again."_

"_What if I was to say there was something in it for you?"_

_The question confused her. "What do you mean?"_

"_It's quite simple. I need your help, and there is something I can offer you in return. Tell me, is there anyone at CTU that Jack is particularly close to? Other than Tony Almeida," he added._

_She took a moment to think, weighing up whether or not this man could do something for her. A recent incident flashed to the forefront of her mind, and she smiled nastily, despite being alone in the room. "Chloe O'Brian, head analyst at CTU," she replied._

"_Chloe O'Brian… can't say I've heard of her," he mused. "But she'll do fine."_

_Audrey suddenly became aware of Martin's voice outside the door. The handle began to turn, the voice becoming louder. "I have to go," she said urgently into the phone. "How can I get in touch with you?"_

"_Meet me."_

"_I'm back in Los Angeles in a couple of days."_

"_Excellent. I will contact you with a meeting place. Oh, and Audrey? I can call you Audrey, right? Don't worry yourself with the details. All you need to know is that Chloe O'Brian will be playing an important part in what I'm about to do. You and I will remain innocent."_

_The line went dead just as Martin poked his head around the door. "Thought you were going to lunch?"_

_Audrey shook herself out of the haze that had fallen over her. "Oh, sure. I am. Urgent phone call," she explained, standing elegantly and making her way out of the office._

…

"I had to block Jack and Tony's files while I pulled off what I could. I took them to our meeting, and he said they would need altering if his plan was going to work. I didn't dare ask him what he meant by that," Audrey added. "That day Chloe was trying to get into the files, Mark was finishing the amendments he had made. The location where Tony was taken? Mark put that on there, to lead Jack and Tony straight to him."

Bill held his head in his hands; it was Michelle who spoke first.

"And you didn't _question _him? His motives? It didn't bother you that he was _lying?_ You knew Jack and Tony hadn't left him to die, so why did you trust him?" She got to her feet and walked around to Audrey's side of the table. "He was _using _you!" she shouted, not caring to lower her voice as she saw Audrey visibly flinch.

"Michelle, please." Bill raised his head and indicated for her to resume her seat. She did so, the look of disgust never leaving her face. "You make me sick," she muttered.

"I thought that, being a woman, you may have understood," Audrey said defensively. "We were just helping each other out… no one was meant to get hurt." Tears began streaming down her cheeks. Bill clenched his teeth and gathered his papers. "We've gotten everything we need," he muttered, terminating the interrogation and switching off the tape recorder. "Someone will be in here shortly to prepare you for transport back to Washington, where both you and Mark Russell will be tried for treason."

"Treason…" The word escaped Audrey's lips on a whisper. "Oh, what have I done?" she sobbed.

"I think you know full well, and that's the sad part." Bill held the door open for Michelle and together they walked back into the adjoining room. Heller sat alone, his eyes fixed on the glass. "Where's Chloe?" Michelle asked.

"She got up and left after Audrey confessed to stealing the watch." Heller rubbed at his temples. "I guess I'd better get ready to take her." He got to his feet and shook Bill's hand. "Bill, I am so sorry for all of this; everything," he said sincerely.

"It's not your fault," Bill reassured him, gripping his hand firmly. "I need to see what Tony and Curtis managed to get from Russell; I hope he goes down for life for what he's done to this agency."

The three of them walked sombrely from the holding room, blinking against the harsh lights of the rear hallway. They found Tony, Curtis and Jack a little way down the hall, waiting for them. Tony looked up as they approached. "Did she talk?"

"She did," Bill confirmed. "Russell?"

"Yes."

"Great. They will be transferred shortly; I'm just waiting for the go ahead from Division and the White House. Meanwhile, all go back to your stations. I'll call you when I need to start the debrief." He and Heller strode away towards the main floor, leaving the agents alone.

"Where is Chloe?" Jack asked Michelle, not seeing the concerned glance pass between his three friends. Michelle shook her head. "I'm sorry, Jack. I don't know. Heller said she got up and left half way through."

"She's still here," Tony spoke up. "She won't leave until it's over, you know that."

Jack sighed. "Yeah. I know." He began walking away from them. "I'm just going to my office."

They knew better than to ask him if he was alright, and so he left them behind and entered the main floor alone, taking the stairs slowly up to his office.

The first thing he noticed was that the light was on; he was sure he'd switched it off earlier in the day. Frowning, he walked inside and scanned the room quickly, his eyes soon discerning what was out of place.

"Clo," he said shakily, sinking down into his desk chair and letting the relief wash over him. "What-"

"She hurt you so badly," she said abruptly, moving from the couch and slowly over to him. "Are you okay?" She laughed sadly at her own question. "Of course you're not okay. You've just lost the woman you loved." Chloe moved away but he grabbed hold of her hand and held on tightly. "I didn't love her, not for a long time," he muttered, his eyes boring in to hers. "Chloe, please…"

She shook her head. "No, Jack." She reached down and extricated her hand from his. "We can't. You're hurt. You think you want to be with me, but you don't, not really. I'm not sorry we kissed, Jack. Don't ever think that. I just… don't want you getting hurt again. I don't want to get hurt again."

He opened his mouth to speak but found that he couldn't. There didn't seem to be any words fitting for what he wanted to say. He remained silent as she turned and walked away from him, comforted only slightly that she would still be in the building until the debrief finished. She might not be with him, but she would never leave him. He knew that.

…

Secretary Heller and Bill stood aside as first Mark Russell, then Audrey, was escorted from their holding rooms. The prisoners were handcuffed securely and double checked for weapons or any other items they may have had on them. Once satisfied, the security guard nodded and Bill led the procession out onto the main floor, Heller by his side.

The bullpen was silent, the air heavy with anticipation. Bill could see his team, all of them, lined up side by side; Jack, his face passive, was stood just by the stairs; next to him Tony and Michelle stood as one, followed by Chloe, manning the comm. station even after all that had happened; Curtis stood solemnly just before the main doors. Bill smiled at each of them as he passed, feeling immensely proud of everything they had achieved.

Mark was the first to be led towards the waiting transportation. He smirked at Jack as he went. "I was going to bring this place to its knees!" he shouted, struggling against the guard who was holding him securely in place. Jack met his gaze but didn't move. "Don't bother looking for the computer I used," he went on, apparently oblivious to what was awaiting him on the other side of the doors, "it's gone. It blew up in the fire." He began laughing hysterically, the sound lingering even after the door had shut behind him.

Audrey was quieter; the tears slid silently down her face, and she kept her eyes on the ground. She had almost reached Bill when Michelle stepped forward. "Alex?"

The guard who had been marching alongside Audrey stopped. "Un-cuff her," Michelle ordered quietly. Alex nodded and did as he was asked, moving back as Michelle took a slow step towards Audrey.

Without warning, she reached out and slapped Audrey viciously across the face. "That," she muttered, "was for Jack." Another blow landed on Audrey's cheek, and the blonde staggered. "That was for almost killing my husband." Michelle took a deep breath and aimed her hand once more across Audrey's face. "That was because I felt like it, and this…" She balled her fist and made contact with Audrey's other cheek, "this is for Chloe."

The force of the blow caused Audrey to fall backwards, landing inelegantly at Alex's feet. Tony made no move to pull Michelle back. In spite of himself, he let out a little cheer, attracting curious glances from the people stood around him. He shrugged. "That's my wife," he said proudly.

Audrey clutched at her cheek and looked towards her father. "Daddy…" she pleaded. Heller regarded her with disgust. "Get up," he said coldly. "I think you've embarrassed yourself enough for one day."

She struggled to her feet, one hand still pressed against her to where a large bruise was already appearing. Alex took a hold of her wrists and replaced her cuffs, but was stopped once again as he tried to make his way towards the door.

Michelle took her place beside Tony, who pulled her into a tight hug. They both looked on as Laura Harman walked up to Audrey and added her own mark to the mess of hand prints and bruises on Audrey's face. The red head didn't say a word; the look in her eyes was enough.

Throughout this, Bill remained by the door. Now, he beckoned for Alex to continue, and was somewhat relived when he made it to the other side of the bullpen with no further interruptions. He waited while Heller said his brief goodbyes, watched as the other man walked away and out of the building, presumably to travel with his daughter to Washington.

"I'm sorry, Bill," Audrey murmured, with as much dignity she could muster. "I'm so sorry."

"So am I, Audrey. So am I."

He nodded to Alex, who pulled on Audrey's handcuffs and led her away.

Bill allowed himself a moment, straightening his tie and running his hands through his hair. Steeling himself, he turned and walked back through the doors and across to the situation room to prepare for the debrief.


	15. Epilogue

Well, this is the end:( Sorry you have had to wait longer than I would have liked. Thank you to everyone who has commented; I've really enjoyed writing this!!

Jess :)

__

_**Mutual Purposes- Epilogue**_

The bar Bill had chosen was quiet, low-key. He himself did not want to attract a lot of attention, and knew that his team would be reluctant to gather in a more prominent place after everything they had been through. He was the first to arrive; he'd known that too would be the case and he sat alone at a table, sipping infrequently at his beer. The people around him were very much like himself; older, tired after the stress of a day's work, looking to relax before heading home. Unlike him, though, they had not just dealt with a terrorist threat, and Bill felt all the more tired, and older, for it.

He hadn't taken any time off, despite Division's recommendations. They had offered to send someone down from San Fransisco, or even Las Vegas, to cover, but he'd declined. He needed to work to take his mind off of everything that had happened, despite the fact that what _had _happened had occured right under his nose, in the very building he come close to calling home. Division weren't happy with his decision but he'd proved to them within a few days that he was still functioning, on the outside at least, at full capacity.

Curtis had stayed on without question, as Bill had known he would. He'd offered them all the chance to leave, hand in their resignation then and there, but none of them had taken it. Not Jack, who had been through more in a few short years than anyone should have to go through in a lifetime; not Chloe, who'd almost found herself framed for treason. Tony and Michelle had taken a short break. He didn't blame them. They too had suffered just as much as anyone else from Audrey's actions. But they had come back. He and Tony were on much better terms, which made dealing with the aftermath so much more easier.

Bill heard the door to the bar open; looking up, he saw Curtis looking uncertainly around. Raising a hand, Bill motioned for him to come on over. Smiling, the younger man shrugged out of his coat and made his way across the room. "Hey," he offered, sitting down next to the Director and reaching for the drink Bill had bought him in advance. "Is it just us so far?" he asked, taking in his surroundings.

"Yes. But I'm early."

"Then so am I." Curtis smiled again. "This is a nice place. Where did you find it?"

"I've been coming here for a few years," Bill replied. "I find it helps me after a day at CTU."

Silently, Curtis marvelled at his boss's ability to deal so calmly with what had happened, with what continued to happen every day at CTU. He knew that Bill was blaming himself just as much as the rest of them were. In truth, they all knew there was little they could have done to stop, or even foresee, what Audrey was doing.

"You said you'd buy us a drink, and you meant it!"

Bill stood up to greet Tony as he and Michelle approached the table. "Good to see you both," he told them sincerely, nodding to the drinks already waiting on the table. He and Tony shook hands and Curtis did not miss the smile that flickered across Michelle's face. "Of course I meant it," Bill chided. "It's the least I could do."

In spite of the frivolity, there was a cloud hanging over the table. While no one particularly wanted to talk about Audrey, or Mark Russell, the matter needed to be addressed. Bill sat down once more and regarded his team. As he thought of a suitable way of broaching the subject, Michelle asked, "Have you heard anything about Audrey?"

He offered her a grateful smile. "I was just about to tell you that I spoke with Secretary Heller yesterday morning." He paused. "I guess I should wait for Jack and Chloe?"

Tony looked at his watch. "What time did you tell them we were meeting?"

"Seven thirty."

"Go ahead," Tony said finally. "This needs to be said and I'm sure Jack will find out if he wants to." What wasn't mentioned was the fact that maybe Jack didn't want, or even need, to know what was about to be said. Bill sighed. "Okay. I spoke with Secretary Heller and he told me that Audrey has pleaded not guilty to the charges brought against her both by us and the White House."

"That's hardly going to help her case," Tony muttered after a few minutes of silence. "What about Russell?"

"He's pleaded guilty, even implicated Audrey in his testimony but she won't change her plea."

"What does Heller think of all this?"

Buchanan chose his words carefully. "He knows she needs help, Tony. He's not going to employ some hot shot lawyer and try and get her a lighter sentence. You saw him back at CTU; he's serious about this. She'll pay for what she's done." For the first time since the ordeal, Bill allowed some conviction and anger to filter into his voice. "I for one am not going to sit back quietly if she goes free."

"She won't," Michelle reassured him. "If need be, we'll all fly over to testify. I know we already gave statements but we'll do it again. All of us."

Bill felt his earlier pride return, and smiled. "I know you would. I hope it doesn't have to come to that."

He didn't get out of the car straightaway, needing the time to sort through his thoughts before facing his friends.

He was already running half an hour late but he knew they'd wait for him. And although he'd seen them only hours earlier at work, he knew this was going to be different. While they were at CTU, there was sufficient activity to keep them from mentioning what had happened. Now it would haunt, if not dominate, their conversation for the evening, no matter how good Bill's intentions were to take their minds off of it once and for all.

Three months had passed since he'd watched the woman he once thought he'd loved led from the building and into a waiting military vehicle. He'd wanted nothing more than to just walk out and not look back, but he couldn't keep running. If anything, Audrey's actions had shown him that he had something, and someone, he needed to stay for, even if the person in question did not need him.

Because she didn't, really. As soon as the debrief had finished she'd been the first to leave the room, the first to the locker room and the first out to the parking lot. He'd watched her drive away and had almost driven after her if it hadn't been for Tony at his side, telling him to leave her alone and give her some time to think.

Everyday he made himself go to work, made himself help Bill liaise with Washington, made himself give a statement to Division. If it meant he could see Chloe, be near her, then that was all he wanted. He kept telling himself that it didn't matter that she didn't want to be with him. He couldn't blame her for not wanting to be with him. He was a mess, could hardly provide her with the protection and love she deserved and that he so desperately wanted to give her. She in turn was hurting; he could see it in the way she walked, the way she averted her eyes from him every time she saw him, the way she left any room that he entered. He'd hurt her: after she'd told him that she didn't want to be hurt again it was the one thing he had succeeded in doing.

But he watched over her. From his office he would keep an eye to the comm. station, and any time he found himself down on the floor he would stand so that he could see her. If nothing else, he was going to make sure that nothing and no one ever hurt her again.

Jack finally pushed the car door open and stepped out into the cool night air, shutting and locking the vehicle behind him. The bar wasn't one he'd been to before, but he could see why Bill had chosen it. As he walked towards the welcoming warmth of the building, he passed both Tony's and Curtis's cars; he assumed that Bill had parked at the other end of the lot. Not knowing if Chloe was going to be there or not was eating at him but he pushed ahead and stepped into the bar, scanning the room for a familiar face. Tony saw him first and stood up, waving him over. Slipping his car keys into his jeans pocket, Jack managed a small smile and headed over.

"I already got you a drink, but I don't know how cold it is..." Bill informed him, gesturing to one of two remaining bottles of beer. "I should have waited, sorry."

"No, no, it's fine." Jack sat down next to Curtis and picked up the bottle, not taking a sip but merely holding it and staring into its murky contents. He knew the rest of them were exchanging worried glances but he chose to ignore it. Deciding that it was best to get it over with, he said, "I heard she's pleading not guilty."

Rather than ask him how he knew this, Bill merely nodded. "Yes, I was just saying. But there won't be any need for any of us to go over and act as witnesses; Secretary Heller has cleared all that. Pulled in a favour." He added the last words as an afterthought; no one needed to ask to which favour he was referring. "The good news is though that she's going to go away for a long time for what she did to us... to you."

"She hurt us all," Jack muttered, pushing his drink away. He wanted to tell them how sorry he was, but just didn't have it in him.

Sensing his friend's unease, Tony moved to change the subject. He turned to Michelle, who Jack now noticed had barely touched her beer. She smiled and nodded. "We're having a baby," Tony said finally, barely able to contain his excitement. "We wanted to wait and be sure before we told you all, but Michelle tells me it's safe, so..."

"That's fantastic news!" Curtis shouted, slapping Tony on the back. "Damn time we had some good news around here."

"I'm so happy for you," Bill murmured, reaching across the table and squeezing Michelle's hand. "Both of you."

Jack stood up and walked round to Tony's side of the table. Tony too stood and they shared a quick hug before Michelle got to her feet. "Congratulations," Jack whispered hoarsely, kissing her cheek. "You both deserve it."

"You've already been picked as godfather," Tony warned him, taking his seat once more.

"Poor kid," Curtis muttered, earning himself a half-hearted glare.

"Let me buy you a lemonade or something?" Bill offered, reaching for his wallet. Michelle shook her head. "Really, it's fine. But thank you."

The mood had lifted considerably since Tony's announcement, and inspite of his earlier promise to himself Jack found he was starting to relax for the first time in a long time. The fact that Chloe wasn't there was playing on his mind but he'd decided that it was probably for the best. He knew how much she hated social gatherings, even if it involved people she knew and worked with. Curtis had long since finished of both his and Chloe's beers and was now sipping at a tall glass of coke.

Bill and Tony had just launched into an animated discussion of the Cubs baseball team when Jack felt a presence behind him. The door to the bar had opened once more and none of them had paid it much attention but this time he felt compelled to turn around.

Chloe stood awkwardly just beside the main bar, looking nervously around and fidgeting with the hem of her shirt. She was wearing a simple white linen skirt and white shirt, with a pale blue camisole underneath. He thought she looked beautiful; the way her wayward hair was tumbling around her shoulders and the way she clutched at her somewhat oversized purse. But then her eyes met his and he looked away sharply. He heard her footsteps approaching the table and then she was sitting down between Bill and Tony, bringing the increasingly loud conversation to a halt.

"Well thank God for that," sighed Curtis. "I had no idea you were such a closet baseball fan, Bill."

"Our place of work hardly encourages that sort of behaviour, Curtis."

Tony laughed. "I disagree. I brought the mug in, remember?"

All the while Chloe kept her eyes on the table, smiling briefly at Michelle and picking at her fingernails. "Sorry I'm so late," she said quietly.

"It's okay," Tony reassured her. "You missed our news, though. Michelle and I are pregnant."

Curtis raised his eyebrows. "You too, Tony?"

"Well, you know what I mean," he muttered with mock impatience. "Here, let me buy you a drink, Chloe. Are you driving?" He was already on his feet and taking money out of his wallet.

She shook her head. "I took a cab. You don't have to-"

"I insist. One white wine it is then?"

"Okay."

Jack knew that the light hearted mood was just making her feel worse, making her feel as though she had to conform to some sort of standard. He himself was finding it difficult to keep up a front. He offered her a reassuring smile, his way of telling her that he understood. To his relief, she smiled back.

Several hours and many empty glasses later, Bill assumed control of the situation and headed over to the bar to pay the cheque. Tony and Michelle stood and began slipping on their coats while Curtis gathered the glasses into a more manageable collection in the centre of the table. "This was a really great night," he mused. "We should do this again."

"Definitely," Michelle agreed. "We could make it a weekly thing or something? And next time someone else pays!"

"I like the sound of that," Bill replied, appearing beside them once more and reaching for his own coat. He turned to Chloe. "Let me drive you home."

"No, Mr Buchanan, it's fine," she told him, hovering just outside the small circle. "I'll call a cab." She stepped towards the door. "Thank you, though. I'll... see you in work," she said quickly, hurrying away before Bill could protest. Jack watched her go, whatever glimmer of hope he thought he'd felt earlier in the evening sinking fast. The door swung slowly closed behind her but still he continued to watch, some part of his mind telling him that she may turn around and come back. He should have offered her a lift first, he should have-

"She'll come round," Tony offered, appearing suddenly beside him. Dragging his eyes away from the door, Jack looked at his friend. "She just needs time."

"I hurt her."

"No. You didn't. Audrey did."

Jack just shrugged. "Yeah." He glanced around to see that the rest of them were heading towards the parking lot, the bill apparently settled and the glasses already cleared away. They were the last ones to leave; the bartender shut the door somewhat finally behind them. Tony rejoined Michelle and took her hand in his. "Thanks again, Bill, I think we all needed this." He looked briefly over at Jack, then back towards the Director. "We'll see you in the morning."

They walked away, quickly followed by Curtis. Bill nodded towards his own car. "Well, that's me," he said, apparently reluctant to walk away for fear of what Jack might do if left alone. "Are you going to be okay, Jack?"

He knew the other man was referring to more than the forthcoming drive home. "I don't know Bill," he said honestly. "I hope so."

"If you need any time off work-"

"I don't."

"Okay." He smiled. "Well, goodnight."

"Night, Bill."

Chloe didn't know how long she'd been walking. She told herself that as soon as she reached a landmark, somewhere familiar, she would eventually stop and call a cab. She'd wanted to accept the offer of a lift but she knew she couldn't be around any of them for much longer without embarrassing herself. All day she'd thought about not going, telling Michelle she was ill or deliberately staying late at work but a part of her wanted to go, wanted to get it over with so perhaps they could all move on and forget about what Audrey had done to them. If they'd talked about the case she didn't know; she'd been late for that very reason, not needing to see the haunted look that filled Jack's eyes knowing that her own were a mirror image.

She cursed herself for not taking her car; at the time, a cab had seemed like a good idea. The plan had been to drink as much as was humanly possible but now here she was, stone cold sober and wandering the streets of the city alone. She hadn't passed a 'landmark' since she'd left the bar. The nearest building, she thought ironically as she leaned against a wall to catch her breath, was CTU.

Chloe pulled her thin shirt tighter around her and cursed herself aloud for being so stupid, so stubborn.

"Need a ride?"

Looking up, she saw a guy leering at her through the window of a rusted junk heap excuse of a car. Mustering all the energy she could find, she replied, "No," in what she hoped was her most withering tone. She didn't start to panic until the guy brought the car to a stop, in the middle of the road, and began opening the door. "I think you do," he told her.

"Really, I don't." Normally she would have been able to handle someone like him but not that night, when her mind was elsewhere and her heels were so impractical. Chloe stayed rooted to the spot, thinking that maybe now was a good time to reach into her purse for her cell phone to call a cab. Or not, because then she would be vulnerable and he would seize on that and take advantage- She amazed even herself at her ability to analyse the situation so calmly. Taking a breath, she turned away from him and continued on. Footsteps started up behind her but she kept a steady pace, holding her head high and trying to stop her shoulders from shaking.

Another car pulled into the street and Chloe gave in, doubling her efforts. Behind, the guy broke into what sounded like a run, no doubt spurred on by the idea of someone else beating him to it.

And then suddenly, the footsteps were gone. Silence filled her ears and she almost paused but made herself keep walking. Perhaps it was a trick and he was just waiting for her to turn back. Chloe reached the end of the street and began to cross the road, relieved as she saw an all night store loom in front of her. She pulled her phone out of her bag and began dialling the number for the cab company.

"Chloe."

She'd been so caught up in the thought of finally getting home that she'd missed the car that was now idling in front of her, effectively blocking her path across the road. Cell phone forgotten, she looked up frantically, again cursing herself for becoming so easy a target. The driver called her name once more and she let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. "Jack," she whispered, immediately calmed. "What-"

"Let me take you home."

"Did you _follow _me?"

"No."

"You must have done." She could feel herself becoming angry, upset. Lashing out was what she did best. "I'm calling a cab," she repeated.

"This is the main road back into the city. I wasn't following you."

"Oh." She'd known he was telling the truth but hearing him rationalise it in such a way made her feel stupid, as though she'd overreacted the way she usually did. "Well, I'm still calling a cab."

"I can get you home faster than a cab."

Sighing, she pocketed her phone and stalked around to the passenger side, saying nothing as she slammed the door shut and clipped on her seat belt. "Thank you," he said quietly.

As he drove she stared down at her hands. The silence between them wasn't right; they'd never been about awkwardness, or struggling to make conversation. She hated how Audrey had changed her, had made her afraid to speak her mind. She knew Jack too was hurting; even though he wasn't looking at her she could tell from the way he gripped the steering wheel that he was battling with an inner demon. He had to fight it alone, but it didn't stop her from wanting to reach out to him.

"I hate this," he said suddenly, almost inaudibly. "I hate what she's done."

"It wasn't your fault."

"I should have known, I should have seen it coming-"

She shook her head. "No. If anything, I should have noticed the changes on the system-"

"No, Chloe."

"Fine. It wasn't anyone's fault, Jack. She was just..." Chloe trailed off, not sure how to finish her sentence without causing the man beside her any more pain. "It's over," she added quietly. "I wish it hadn't happened but it did and now we have to just try and move on." She held her breath, biting anxiously down on her lip for fear of his reaction. To her surprise, he smiled. "I've missed you."

She shrugged. "I've been right here."

He had nothing to say to that, focussing instead on the road in front of them, hands gripping the steering wheel tighter.

"Thank you."

"What for?"

"That guy back there."

Jack shrugged. "It's fine."

Chloe sighed. "You know, I don't think I want to go home. My apartment is... well, anyway, I think we need to talk."

"You do?" He couldn't help but feel a nuance of hope at her words, hope that was soon crushed. "I meant what I said before, Jack. But I think we just, you know, have to talk about what she's done. It might make us feel better." Her voice lacked conviction; he knew she was trying to convince herself as much as she was him. "You don't have to try and help me, Chloe," he muttered, continuing on in the direction of her apartment. "I know what she did, talking about it doesn't change anything. You think I haven't gone over it again and again in my mind, trying to figure out what went wrong?"

She scowled. "Fine. Just drop me here. I'll walk. I was only trying to help," she added.

"I don't need your help."

Jack regretted the words as soon as he'd spoken them; from the corner of his eye he saw the colour drain from her cheeks, saw her eyes lose their sparkle. She turned away from him and began rummaging in her purse for her keys. "I said I'll walk," she repeated, her voice cold.

"You are not walking-"

"Stop the damn car, Jack!"

To her surprise he did as asked, bringing the vehicle to an abrupt halt just half a block away from her apartment. Calmly, Chloe unfastened her seat belt and stepped out of the car. She heard Jack do the same, rushing to keep up with her. "Chloe, please... stop. Chloe!" She carried on walking, key poised for when she eventually reached the front door. "Chloe," he called again, this time quieter. "Please. I don't want to be alone anymore."

She froze, her resolve rapidly weakening. "It's okay, Jack. You don't have to apologise for what you said- I know I deserved it. Just go home. Thanks for the lift."

"Chloe-"

"Go home, Jack." She resumed her pace towards her apartment building, gradually disappearing from view as her small figure was dwarfed by the buildings on either side of the street. He stayed where he was, unable to move, unable to comprehend how he had just hurt her and let her walk away from him again. Pain was making it difficult to breathe, difficult to see. He turned, almost stumbled back to the car, holding on to the door frame as though it was the only real thing he had left. With shaking hands he reached for the steering wheel, somehow managing to put the car into reverse and backing slowly away towards the main road. He swallowed angrily against the lump in his throat, forcing himself to pull it together. He'd almost made it when she appeared in the headlights. She was heading his way, saying something but over the sound of the engine he couldn't hear her.

Chloe stepped up beside the car and motioned for him to wind down the window. He did so, looking at her expectantly but she didn't speak, just reached in and shut off the ignition, pulling the keys out as she did so. His eyes searched hers only to find that this time he couldn't read them, and that scared him. He tried to say her name but the words wouldn't form in his mouth. The door opened and she held out her hand to him. "I don't want to be alone, either."

She led him back up the street and into her apartment building, her hand not leaving his. Silently, she unlocked her front door and stepped inside, not bothering to switch on the light. The door immediately to the right opened out onto the lounge, and that was where she took him next, sitting down slowly on the couch and pulling him down beside her.

She held him while he cried, his face buried in her hair while she rubbed his back in what she hoped was a soothing gesture. Her own tears refused to fall but she was sure that they would, given time. She hadn't cried since that day, when she'd been trapped in a holding room and fearing that she had lost him for good. Biting her lip, she hugged him tighter, not letting go even as his sobs subsided and his breathing returned to normal.

Slowly, Jack lifted his head and gazed into her eyes. Chloe swallowed nervously and removed her arms from around his waist. "Are you okay now?"

He offered her a small smile. "I'm better than I was," he said honestly.

Chloe got to her feet. "Oh, good, well I'm just-"

Jack grabbed her hand and pulled her back towards him until she was sat on his lap. He reached out and ran his fingers over cheek towards her mouth, tracing the outline of her lips and the curve of her chin. Again he tried to speak but again he couldn't, finding that he didn't need to. She understood.

It was Chloe who initiated the kiss, brushing her lips gently across his. This time he was able to pull her closer, his arms like an iron vice around her waist as she tilted her head and became more insistent. He realised she was murmuring something and he pulled back, curious. "What's wrong?"

"I said, I love you." She blushed furiously. "Is that okay?"

"It's more than okay."

"Oh."

"I love you, too. I was just scared. Scared of hurting you."

"You couldn't do that if you tried, Jack." She frowned. "You love me too?" But he didn't respond, choosing instead to pull her close and rest his forehead against hers. She scowled. "Well, that's okay too. Not that you asked but-"

He silenced her with a quick kiss. "I thought I'd lost you, Chloe O'Brian." The look she gave him in return told him that he didn't need to worry; her leaving him was no longer an option. Nothing and no one was ever going to hurt him again.


End file.
